The Road to Forever
by Aurora Hart
Summary: When best friends Bella, Emmett and Alice agree to share a house with 3 random strangers in Key West, they have no idea what they are getting themselves into. Rated M for possible future events. Canon. AH. A little OOC.
1. I Cant Take My Eyes Off of You

**The Road to Somewhere**

**Disclaimer: I do wish I owned Twilight, but I am sadly not that lucky.**

**A/N: This is my first fanfiction. After reading a couple of these online, i got some ideas and decided to give them a try. Please review the story, and let me know things to improve on, or if you want to suggest ideas, or maybe if you think this story is too predictable. But review, and let me know anything i can do to improve my version on Twilight.**

**Well, now it's on to Chapter One. Here we go.**

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I never knew that the day I set foot in that airport in Key West, my life would change forever. There was no turning back now.

------------------------------------------

_**Prologue:**_

My best-friend-basically-big-brother Emmett held me while I cried. He wrapped me in his steel arms, thick with muscle. We sat there in his room and he stroked my hair, whispering to me that everything was okay, and that I would be fine, and that it didn't matter. That _he_ didn't matter.

My heart didn't listen.

Even though I was wrapped so tight I _shouldn't_ be able to move, my body shook and convulsed with sobs as his light gray shirt turned many shades darker, completely soaked with my tears.

Alice came in then, hearing my sobs, as I knew she would. After a quick assessment of the scene before her, she walked quickly over to the bed and kissed me on the forehead. Then she walked into Emmett's bathroom, and I heard something snap.

One thought was running through my mind.

_Edward._

-----------------------------------------

I heard a soft knock on my door, and the muted _click_ of the lock as Rosalie came in. She took one look at the emotions written in **bold** across my face and immediately sat down next to me on my bed, wrapping her arms around my slightly shaking frame.

That did it. I lost it.

I was so confused. My mind couldn't handle anymore. My control broke, and I couldn't see anything around me. Rose's shirt was turning another color as my tears soaked it.

All I heard outside of my own wracking, howling sobs was Rosalie's soft, sisterly voice telling me that everything would be okay, and that I could take my time, and that if I ever needed her, she would be there.

I heard the faint _click_ once again as Jasper entered the room. My little brother took one look at me, the "unfortunate middle child of our family" as he called it. He knew exactly what was going on. He came over and sat on the bed, placing his hand on my arm, holding my green eyes with his own.

As I looked into their blue depths I saw reason, and calm. My emotions slowly calmed themselves until they would let me think straight. My sobs quieted, as my heart slowly started to knit itself into one again. My heart set itself on a new path, one that would in the future prove to be the most perfect decision I would ever make. And my mind…

My mind only had one word it could think now.

_Bella._

--------------------------------------------------

Chapter One: I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

Three months earlier.

"Ooohhhh," I heard Alice sigh, under her breath. "New meat!" The last word came out as a slightly higher pitched squeal of sorts.

Alice just _loves_ it when she spots new people. Especially ones who are boys. Especially when they are _cute_ boys! And these two were the _definition_ of cute! There were two of them. One was tall and lean, just thin all around. He had blonde hair, and startlingly blue eyes. He had a face that could calm you with one look. As soon as I looked at him to check him out, my body was washed over with a cool calm. It surprised me, just as much as it unnerved me. I decided to check out his friend. I looked over at the other one and WOAH! Every single part of my body froze.

_He was GORGEOUS!!!_

He was tall with wiry muscles, not like my brother Emmett, who was _all _steel bands of muscle. This one was also thin, but had a slightly thicker form; due to his slightly more pronounced muscles. I noticed he had long, beautiful hands. A thought danced through the back of my mind.

_I wonder if he's a musician? _

He was wearing dark jeans, with an emerald green t-shirt. I felt myself smile. Green was my _favorite_ color. Especially emerald green. My eyes continued to travel up his _very_ attractive body, and stopped cold when I reached his face.

It was _breath-taking_.

The way the skin on his neck flowed uninterrupted up to cover his jaw. How it rolled across his cheekbones. His lips were slightly full, and they were the _perfect_ mix of red and pink. Oh how I wanted to touch my lips to his………NO! I commanded my brain to stop right where it was. I was not going to start this before I even knew the guy! So I continued my assessment, which ended about two seconds later when I reached his eyes.

His EYES!

They were impossible to look away from. They were that perfect shade of emerald green that I loved, which also just so happened to match his shirt. But I stored that thought in the back of my mind for later.

Those eyes were perfect. They were mesmerizing. I got lost in their depths. I could see flecks of darker green within those gorgeous eyes. There was also an emotion buried in them, but before I could figure out just what it was, realization hit me.

There was only one way that I could see all these things so clearly.

I unfocused his eyes, and looked at him full on.

He was staring straight at me.

When he knew I realized we were staring at each other, he smirked a crooked smile at me, then winked. My breath caught once again, and I grabbed Emmett's arm for support. He turned away then to sit next to the blonde one on the lobby's sofa, and engage him in a conversation.

The smirk never left his face. I was so shocked by his casual reaction that i didn't move. I just kept my hand clutched around Emmett's arm. I kept my gaze locked on the two couch-boys. I looked a bit higher and my eyes attached themselves to his beautiful bronze colored hair. It was amazing! It looked like he had just gotten out of bed. His hair fell in the most _perfect_ messy array that stopped my heart on a dime. I wished I could run my fingers through that oh so luscious hair………NO! I screamed at myself in my head _again_. I gazed at him with reverence, and it took Emmett a few tries before he could get my attention.

"Bella………Bella? Beellllaaa…...._Bella!!!_ BELLA!" he said, punctuating that last "Bella" with a jab in my side. I snapped my gaze to him, my look of wonder instantly morphing into a frown as he interrupted my stargazi—I mean _staring_ at the most perfect person _ever_.

"What do you _want_ Emmett?" I asked harshly, glaring at my big brother. My little sister Alice frowned at my tone. She is so pissy these days. God do I hate that Aro _so much_! I cannot believe he broke my best-friend-practically-sister's heart. He didn't just break it the last time they were in Volterra; he snapped it in half and stomped on it. But I forced the thought to disappear once again as Emmett opened his rarely empty mouth.

"I want you to stop staring at that scrawny guy over there and answer my question!" he snapped back, obviously annoyed that I had been ignoring him, _again._ I was just riveted by his _face _though. Oh, how I wanted to run my hand across his cheek…….NO! I don't even know him! I am not going to start this.

"Fine Emmett," I sighed. "What's your question?" And he is _not_ scrawny, I wanted to say, but I didn't want to get into that right now. I wouldn't be able to live it down with Emmett.

"Which part of this house are we going to be getting?" We are renting a house in Key West, and we were renting it with three other absolute strangers that we had never met before. We haven't even seen their pictures yet. So who knows whom we were going to be living with. Hopefully not crazy people.

"We are getting every part Emmett." I clarified. "That's what _sharing_ is. We are sharing this house with three other people. Two guys, and one girl. I don't know their names. We will be sharing everything. That **INCLUDES** the food. And we will have 3 bathrooms, so that's two people to each bathroom. Unless a girl and a guy don't want to share, which will result in a problem. Now hush, and let's wait for the shuttle." I glared at him again, giving him an even harder look when I mentioned the food. I knew it was no use, but I had to try anyway. Getting between Emmett and food when he's hungry is NOT a good idea. Last time I did that, he threw me in our mother's pool.

I hate pools. Usually. They are cold, and wet, and the chlorine smells really bad.

"Oh," he said, as his memory kicked in. He sighed and shifted his weight, impatiently checking my watch again. Unsatisfied with the time, he let my arm drop back to my side. Alice's tinkling, bell-like laugh reached me from across Emmett's muscular bulk then.

"Emmett, can you like, chill for a second?" she said. "It's not like we have that much longer. The shuttle is scheduled to be here in like 10 minutes. Just take a break, jeezzz!!!! Here," she said, reaching into her pocket. She drew out a Caribou Coffee Mocha bar. Emmett's eyes bulged. He absolutely _adores_ those bars. "Why don't you impatiently snack on this and try to just calm down for the next 10 minutes while we wait?" She held the bar up in his face and his hand snaked up with lightening speed to snatch it.

He tore open the paper and bit off half of it at once, his face taking on a dreamy state. Well, now that he was satisfied—for the time being—I could fully turn my attention back to the two guys lounging on the couch, now laughing at something I didn't get to witness because of Emmett.

Ugh, so unfair.

But then, my perfect guy flung himself off of the sofa and hurled his body towards the door. I looked to the door, and my attention was caught by a gorgeous blonde with a gigantic smile spreading across her face. I looked to where her gaze was locked and my heart stopped once again. I watched with horror as she dropped her tons of bags and threw herself into _my_ guy's arms. I heard a sharp intake of breath, and realized that it was my own. I watched as he squeezed her tight and spun her around in circles, lifting her feet off the floor.

As soon as he let go, his other friend—the blonde, blue-eyed one—raced over and picked her up as well, swinging her in yet another circle. She laughed and kissed them both on the cheek as soon as she was put on the floor. I felt fury bubble up in my stomach as my eyes narrowed at the over-friendly greeting. WHAT THE HECK?! I thought to myself then. I have no claim _whatsoever _to this guy, I didn't even know him, and now I'm already getting jealous just because some extremely gorgeous blonde kissed him on the cheek?! Not cool Bella, I thought at my emotions. Just chill.

"Bella, you do realize that you are staring at that guy over there? And that there's a look on your face that is scaring even me a little?" Alice said nervously, obviously wondering what was going on in my mind. Not that she has to think very hard to know what is going on……but anyways…

Him and his blonde guy friend, laughing by now, were walking over to pick up the girl's luggage, which had been conveniently left in a pile by the door, where it was promptly getting in the way. They carried it over to the couch where they had been sitting prior to her entrance, and both smile widely when she squished herself in-between them, each flinging an arm around her shoulders.

That's when my vision ran red.

What the EFF was I doing??!! Holy shit! I needed to stop obsessing over this guy before I had a heart attack. It was then that I turned back to my two best-friends-practically-siblings and met their knowing gazes. Uh-oh, I thought. Busted. I attempted to give them what I thought was an apologetic look, but I apparently failed, because the next thing I knew Emmett was cracking up and Alice was just shaking her head with shame.

Ha Ha Ha guys, I thought. Very funny. Then their gazes turned towards my object of obsession and I saw their jovial faces fall, replaced by looks of shock, both of their mouths forming a perfect comical _O_ at the sight of the three strangers. HA! I wanted to scream. Take THAT! Now they knew exactly what I was talking about, so I could no longer be busted for it. I was still jealous at the closeness the blonde girl had with the two guys, but my friends reactions to their beauty distracted me for a moment. Sweet, sweet beauty. Your power has saved me yet again. Those three are so beautiful that my practically-siblings are so distracted they can't even tease me! How can I ever repay you?

If I only I had known then what was soon to come.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a quick flash of green and a crooked smirk as a face turned away from me.

I sighed.

What am I going to do _now_?

Wait for a shuttle.

**ooohhh..... so what will happen with the most perfect guy Bella has ever seen? Will they ever meet? **

**This doesn't really count as a cliffy, i know, but it's the best i can do for now. i'm already starting on chapter two, so review this and let me know if you have anything for me!**

**PEACCE 3**

**AURORA HART**


	2. WHAT!

Chapter two: WHAT?!

_THUNK! _

Emmett's on the bus, I thought to myself. Alice and I had already gone and claimed the long back seat of the shuttle with the suitcases we could carry. We left Emmett with the rest. I looked towards the door and giggled at the sight of Emmett struggling with all of the luggage he was attempting to carry. I nudged Alice and motioned towards the struggling Emmett. Her eyes lit up and we were both laughing hard by this point.

Then I heard the most beautiful, musical sound in the world.

My eyes snapped past Emmett, to the guy who decided to help him with our luggage.

My breath caught. My heart stopped.

My bronze-haired beauty was smiling as he grabbed _my_ suitcase out of Emmett's hands. And he was laughing. _Oh, so THAT'S where that _sound_ came from._

Oh. My. God.

"Thanks man, I was seriously about to drop that one." He looked over and me and laughed, damn well knowing that that _particular_ suitcase held things that weren't supposed to be broken. For example:

My guitar.

My pictures of me and Alice, me and Emmett, Alice and Emmett, and all of us together, one of my parents, and a couple of my dog, Nina.

Also, it held some other items for decoration that if dropped and broken by him, Emmett knew he would feel pain. Because I would hurt him. I smiled as that thought flashed through my mind.

Emmett looked back to what he was doing, because if he dropped _Alice's_ suitcases, she would give him more hell than I would.

He worked his way back to us with my god-guy following behind him. His two blonde friends followed behind _him_ as well. Emmett stored our suitcases in the racks that stretched above the seat we were in. Alice's stuff took up at _least_ half of the rack. I sighed as Emmett stuck the one suitcase of mine up there.

My sigh caught in my throat and Emmett's helper reached over my head to put the suitcase of mine that he held on the rack above my head. Alice looked at me curiously as I blushed furiously.

But my blush was stopped in its tracks by the most _delicious_ smell to ever grace my nose. I lifted my chin a bit and took a small sniff. It was HIM!

Oh my god I have never smelled anything so good.

It was sweet, so sweet, sort of like a mix of flowers, but it wasn't girly or anything. I also smelled apples, which could be the shampoo that had the privilege of touching that _beautiful _hair. I want to run my fingers through that soft, sweet hair…STOP. IT. I commanded myself.

The scent of his skin smelled so delicious that I just wanted to keep him right where he was, stretched over my head. I forgot to breathe.

He noticed. A chuckle rumbled in his chest.

"Hello," he said, in his quiet, musical voice. "I'm Edward. Sorry for bursting the personal space bubble, but I needed to put that guy's suitcase up here."

"I-I-It's okay," I stammered. Why am I stuttering!!!!! "Actually," I said matter-of-factly, with a little more confidence, "That's _my_ suitcase. The guy you were helping is one of my two best friends in the world, Emmett. My name is Bella, and the little pixie-like dark-haired girl over there is Alice, the third member of our trio. We just moved here from Phoenix, Arizona." Why was I going on and on about us? I didn't even really _know_ this "Edward", except for the fact that he was hot, and he made me forget how to breathe.

A crooked smile that melted my heart curved up his lips.

"Well Bella, it just so happens that I moved here with _my_ two most favorite people in the world, Jasper," he indicated the tall blonde guy. As he did this, I could practically see Alice filing these newly named Jasper facts away in her head for later. "And my baby Rosalie," He continued, pointing to where she was sitting with Jasper in the front, his face lighting up when he mentioned the also newly named Rosalie. I bet she's his f'kin girlfriend!!!!! Ugh, why is life SO unfair?!

I was so caught up in my jealousy that I almost missed what he said next.

"We just moved here from _our_ hometown of Forks, Washington, the Number 1 wettest place you will _ever_ know." My vision was still red. I did NOT like the way he said "my baby Rosalie."

I would only realize in the time to come that he emphasized the "baby" part of that sentence, not the "my" part, as if he was talking about, say, HIS SISTER!!!!!!! Of course, I wouldn't know this until later, so I still thought she was his girlfriend.

"Oh, cool." I said, trying to act interested. I knew Emmett was probably a bit jealous right now, because I know my "big brother", and I have never, I repeat NEVER seen him look at a girl that way before. Emmett's usually been more of a player. Maybe there's something there. I'm not completely sure yet. It's something to consider.

"Yes, we moved here to attempt to show our parents that we can take care of ourselves. They, of course, don't believe us, but we _will_ prove them wrong." He said all of this smugly. I had a feeling he was DEFINITELY the committing type, and probably also a bit stubborn. I _like_ stubborn, if only because that's exactly what I am, 100% S-T-U-B-B-O-R-N!

I smiled and let out a small laugh at his cockiness. "Ah, so you three are here to prove that you don't need your parents. Then I'm guessing you three must be rich kids. How old are you guys anyway?" I wondered, trying to keep him there. I noticed he was still standing, but I wanted to talk to him, so I scooted closer to Alice, and he took the offered seat to my left. I smiled inside.

"Well, Jasper over there is 21. His birthday was three months ago. May 3." I saw Alice's smile widen slightly at this, and her eyes lit up even more. She's also 21. "And Rosalie," he smiled. I growled silently in my head, "She's 22, the oldest of us. And I'm only 20." He grinned his crooked grin.

"Me too," I said, a bit too fast. "Emmett is also 22, and Alice is 21! That's so funny!" I laughed, wanting to keep him here as long as possible. Alice gave me a sharp look, and I realized that I was flirting. Whoops.

He laughed with me. "Well," he said. "We will all have to catch up with one another again sometime soon, and hang out, seeing as we are both new to this place and don't know anybody." I grinned eagerly.

"If we want to catch up, I'm going to need your number so we can find each other," I said with a wide grin on my face. Then I felt it go red as I felt Emmett's silent laughter radiate to me from his end of the seat.

"Sure," he said, grinning just as wide as I was, and even more crookedly. I didn't know you could melt an already melted heart, but he managed to do it. I passed him my phone and he put his contacts in there. He gave me his phone and I put my information in his.

"There," I said. "Now we can always reach each other." He smiled brightly at the thought. I felt my stomach flip over. I looked around, and realized that the shuttle had stopped. We were at a hotel. This was where Emmett, Alice and I were going to catch a cab over to our new-shared house. I looked sadly at Edward.

"This is where we get off," I said, undertones of sadness apparent in my voice. He smiled ever so crookedly.

"We do too," he said. I brightened. He continued. "We are going out to lunch and then headed to our new place. How about we get together…tomorrow?" I could see the hope in his eyes. And I have to say, I liked it!

"Sure," I replied eagerly. All six of us stood up and collected our suitcases, making our way to the bus doors. As we made it onto the pavement, I noticed that Jasper and Rosalie eyed Edward suspiciously as they made their way to one side of the bus. Emmett and Alice went to the other side to hail a cab. My smile vanished. So did Edwards.

"So, I guess this is where we part our ways," he said. I could hear the twinge of sadness in his voice. I didn't like that. But it was odd. I only met him about ten minutes ago.

"Until tomorrow then?" I asked skeptically. His smile returned ever so slightly, curling up the corner of his lips.

"Until tomorrow Bella." He said in a goodbye, walking over to join his company. My heart soared when he said my name. I wanted him to be the only one to ever say my name again. Well, maybe not, but that's how I felt at the moment. I walked dazedly over to Alice and Emmett. They eyed me with such a look that I cringed before I even reached them, knowing what was coming.

"BELLA!!!!!!" they both shrieked at me, causing pain in my ears. Ouch.

"Who was that?!" Alice shrieked as quietly as she could. Since I couldn't bear to look at him to see if he heard, I hoped she was quiet enough.

"That, Alice, was Edward. The blonde guy you are obviously crushing on is Jasper, and Emmett, the "smokin' hot blonde" as I know you would say, is Rosalie. They all just moved here from Forks, Washington." I blushed at knowing all this, and Emmett's laughter wasn't silent this time. It boomed all around us, making the most of the people within the vicinity stare.

This made my face go even redder.

"EMMETT!" I yelled, not really mad. I was just a little upset because he embarrassed me in public, yet _again_, like he usually does. But it's almost impossible to stay mad at Emmett. Yes, he may have HUMONGOUS muscles, and he may _slightly_ resemble a very large grizzly bear, but Emmett's all bark and no bite. Unless you hurt me or Alice. When it comes to the two of us, Emmett goes _extremely_ big brother. But all he really is is a giant, lovable teddy bear.

"I'm sorry Bellarina, but it was too much to pass up." Emmett chuckled. He looked back at me. "You know I can't pass up any kind of opportunity to embarrass both you and Alice, and this one was perfect!" He laughed again, but it was a bit quieter this time. I noticed Alice gave him a wary look, and I started to laugh myself. Emmett looked at me funny.

"What now?" Emmett said, because when he embarrasses me, I usually don't start laughing.

"Because," I answered. "Alice gave you a funny but slightly fearful look when you said you love to embarrass us _both._ I thought it was funny." Alice gave me what I knew to be a death glare, even though I wasn't looking at her. I'd probably pay for that one, because now Emmett was sure to embarrass her. Whoops again on my part.

We continued to wander down the crowded area in front of the hotel, Alice and Emmett bantering like eight-year-old siblings. My eyes swept over the row of taxis until I spotted an open one. I made my way over to it as my "siblings" followed behind me. Emmett popped the trunk and began to load all of our bags into it, as I gave the driver instructions on where to take us.

"Okay," I began. "We need to get to 6 Crescent Avenue. I think it is somewhere practically on a beach. Do you have _any_ idea where that is?" I asked, hoping he did, because I certainly didn't. He just gave me a funny look, as if to say, _"I'm not stupid, I live here!"_ I took that as a yes, and nodded, sliding into the backseat next to Alice. Emmett got in on my other side.

Shit.

I'm stuck in the middle of a sandwich.

The taxi pulled away from the curb, and as we pulled into the traffic, Emmett and Alice turned to me simultaneously.

Double shit.

This is going to be a long ride.


	3. New Meat

Chapter 3: New Meat

After about an hour of pure torture, courtesy of Emmett and Alice, we finally pulled up in front of our new beach-and-ocean-side house. It was a large, two-story beach house that we would be renting for at least the next year. It looked very homey.

It was painted yellow, but not bright or pale. More like an in between yellow, but with darker tones in it. It was so pretty. It had a roofed porch that wrapped all the way around the house. I could see the expanse of beach behind it, and could see the thick line of blue that I knew was the ocean. It was amazing. There were actually palm trees in the yard, and they also stretched back to that beautiful expanse of beach. And in the front-ish yard, slightly off to the right of the house there was a willow tree. A very large willow tree, with strong looking branches, and the vines with leaves that hung all around the tree all the way to the ground were so thick that I couldn't even see the trunk.

_MINE! _I shouted in my head, silently claiming it as my place.

Emmett opened the trunk again and piled all our suitcases on the grass, shut the trunk, paid the driver, and watched as he drove away, down the long, heavily wooded lane that separated our house from any other civilization for at least 10 minutes. I loved it. It was like our own personal haven.

"Bella, Alice!" Emmett yelled. I snapped back into reality and turned around to face him. It appears Alice was staring into space as well. He continued, "Get your lazy asses over here and pick up your own damn suitcases!" We did as he said, but only because he looked so much like a bear at the thought of carrying our bags _again_ that we were kinda scared.

He knew how to get revenge. He was good at it. I walked over and picked up my stuff, slinging a duffle bag over each of my shoulders, grabbed my backpack and managed to hang it off my arm, then picked up my other two suitcases and my purse.

I slowly trudged to the front door, practically dragging my ass all the way there. I decided to make multiple trips, so I dumped all my shit on the porch, taking my backpack and one duffle bag first. Opening the slightly large brown front door, I made my way in and stopped when I was about 6 feet through the door to take a look around.

To my right there was a doorway that led to the kitchen. To my left there was a much wider doorway, about 6 feet across, that opened into a homey looking living room, complete with a large, wrap-around, L-shaped, navy blue fluffy sofa, a large, sunken in mushroom chair, a very large loveseat, an extra big recliner chair, a coffee table off to the side, and a TV set-up, complete with a large, flat-screen television. Shelves on the side alerted me that it was fully stocked with DVD's.

I thought that was odd, seeing as no one has lived here in years, according to the owner. Oh well, I sighed to myself, and headed for the stairs.

I knew for a fact that there were four bedrooms in this house, and four bathrooms. There were two master bedrooms, one upstairs, and one downstairs. They each contained their own bathroom. Then there were also two large bedrooms, both located upstairs. There was a third, large bathroom upstairs.

Then there was the fourth bathroom, located downstairs. This one only contained a toilet, a sink, and a mirror. It is also EXTREMELY tiny. So, all in all, it is dubbed the "b-room of doom" thanks to Emmett. I stopped at the foot of the stairs when I heard Emmett dub the bathroom with this new name.

"B-room of doom? Seriously Emmett, how old are you, like 5?" I questioned. What the hell kinda name was that for a fucking bathroom?

"Well," he stated very matter-of-factly, "It is certainly un- accommodating, considering it only has a toilet, a small sink, and a mirror. It's barely big enough to fit two people!" He finished. I just looked at him. Of course, if he couldn't fit a girl in there with him it was of no use to him at all.

Idiot.

Wait until he has to pee so bad he can't even make it up the stairs in time. Then who will love the B-room of Doom? (yes, it is now going to be called that, and when our housemates arrive we are going to inform them of this, and hope they don't think we are crazy.)

"What?!" he exclaimed as I just stared at him.

"Nothing Emmett," I said. "Just nothing." I laughed at him as I walked up the stairs. They lead into the right end of the hallway, near the end of it. At the end of the hallway on the right was the master bedroom, above the kitchen. To the left near the end of the hallway was another bedroom, smaller than the master room. Directly across the hall from the large bedroom was the second large room. The door to the bathroom sat right in between the bedroom doors. Whoever claimed the two large bedrooms would have to share the bathroom in between them, and since I knew that Alice and Emmett would claim the downstairs master bedroom, I was going to have to share with a stranger. Whoever took the master room upstairs had their own bathroom, as did the master room down below.

I made my way to the room on the left of the bathroom, and opened the door. It was a pretty shade of orange that I loved, and seemed to match the rest of the brightly colored house. There was a queen-sized bed that could easily fit two people located in the far right corner of the room, and a large closet that I knew I probably couldn't even fill half of. A faded white desk sat in the far left corner in front of a large window that overlooked the front yard of the house. A dark brown dresser sat next to a large full-length mirror. There was a second window to right of the door, in the corner of the adjacent wall. The carpet was plush a thick and the color of sand.

I walked in and plopped my duffle bag on the bed. I turned around and noticed that there was a lock on the door. That was a nice touch. I headed back downstairs and got the rest of my bags. I made my way back up and piled the rest of my stuff on the floor in front of my closet, and headed back downstairs to find Alice and Emmett. As I predicted, they claimed the downstairs master bedroom for themselves.

IT IS NOTHING LIKE THAT YOU SICK MINDED PEOPLE! Emmett and Alice are best friends, we all are. We are used to having sleepovers together and sharing a bed, a room, and a bathroom with Emmett is not weird for us at all. He's even seen us both in our bras and underwear. We've seen him in his boxer's. Hell we've walked in on each other naked. There's no awkwardness at all. Emmett will even pick up tampons and such for us if we ask him too. So it's not really a big deal. Sorry, just had to set it straight. And there is no chance of them getting together. I can prove this with a story.

_FLASHBACK:_

_Four years ago: Freshman year of High School_

_We were all hanging out in Emmett's room, sitting on his bed with popcorn watching Kung Fu Panda. We love that movie. And actually, Alice and I were sharing popcorn, while Emmett had two bags to himself. He could eat the whole house if he was hungry enough. Jeez. We laughed when Po (the panda/Dragon Warrior) came out of the dust wearing a bowl on his head. Then after the credits rolled, and the DVD stopped, the room felt different. I knew something was about to happen. I pulled my knees up to my chest, and waited._

_I didn't have to wait long._

"_I lied," Alice blurted out. Emmett and I just stared at her._

"_About what?" Emmett asked her, giving her an odd look._

"_Ummm…" she mumbled, chewing on the inside of her cheek. She only did that when she was really embarrassed. I knew this had to be big. For Alice at least._

"_What is it Alice?" I said in a softer tone, letting the concern I felt flood into my face. Emmett took on the same expression, and we both waited while she worked up the nerve to tell us. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. This was serious for Alice. I knew then that no matter how trivial it seemed that Alice was scared about our reaction._

_She spoke. "Myfirstkisswasn'twithtylercrowley." She said it all so fast that I wasn't even sure she said it. Emmett felt the same way._

"_What was that Alice?" You could hear the question and concern in his voice._

_Her eyes tightened a bit. She repeated, much slower this time, "My first kiss wasn't with Tyler Crowley." She sealed her lips shut._

_We just stared at her. It seemed kinda small. But then again, we all assumed that she had her first kiss with Tyler in the 3__rd__ grade like she'd told us. So this was big for us too. I looked over at Emmett. I expected him to look kinda surprised, but he just looked a bit sheepish. Me and Alice are going to have to talk to him too. But this was about Alice._

_Emmett spoke up first. "What? Well then if it wasn't with Tyler in 3__rd__ grade, then when was it and with whom?" He asked curiously. Her faced actually reddened. I thought I was the only one who did that around here._

"_I've never had it. Never. With no one." She buried her head in her knees, hiding her brightly lit face from us._

_Even more shocked stares._

"_Oh, Alice," I began. "Why didn't you just tell us? Why would it bother us? You know I didn't have my first kiss until just last year, with that awful Mike Newton." We laughed at the memory. I had gone out on a date with him just to make him leave me alone. He became more obsessed than ever. Finally he moved away. I think he went to some place in the Washington state area. "And Emmett didn't have his 'til seventh grade with (shudder) Jessica Stanley." Emmett cleared his throat. I looked at him quizzically._

"_Umm, about that." He looked down, his cheeks taking on a slightly red hue._

"_Emmett…?" I asked, for both mine and Alice's sake. This was news to both of us as well._

"_I've never had my first kiss either. I just didn't want to be the last one, and since Alice was "done" in 3__rd__ grade, I could not let you beat me Bella. I lied too." I just stared at him. He always bragged about this girl and that girl, like they were pebbles on the beach. Always there and always in bounty._

"_WHAT?!" Alice and I both half-shrieked in answer and question. Emmett? No way. That thought ran through my head again and again._

_Now, this conversation may seem extremely trivial to anyone outside of our little circle, but we had been friends since we were in diapers. It was a big deal for us._

"_Yeah, I've never had mine either. So congrats Bellarina, you beat us both." He said this with sadness, and we could tell that he was really down about not having his first kiss yet and because he lied to us._

_Then a thought crossed my mind. They are gonna kill me for this._

_I decided to speak up._

"_Well—you guys are gonna kill me for this—since neither of you have ever had your first kiss, why don't you just………kiss each other? At least it will be with someone you know as well as you know yourself." I let my hair fall in my face, waiting for one of them to smack me. It was inevitable. But it never came. I looked up._

_They both looked thoughtful._

"_Well," they both said at the same time. I looked at them hopefully, and prayed that this wouldn't change anything._

_Then Alice spoke up. "Why don't we? Then, the awkwardness of our first kisses will be done with, and then we can move on." Emmett nodded in agreement. I just sat there, and the shocked poured into my expression. Alice wiggled over to Emmett, plopped herself on her knees in front of him, and looked at him, waiting. He repositioned himself, leaned forward, and their lips met. Then they started to deepen the kiss. But something changed. At the same time, they pulled back from each other. Their faces looked disgusted. They wiped their hands over their mouths at the same time._

"_EEEWWWW!!!!!!" they shrieked. Emmett spoke first after that._

"_That was like kissing my baby sister!!! EW!" He exclaimed, disgusted._

"_That was like kissing my big brother!!! GROSS!" she half-shrieked, then began guzzling water._

_I was frozen for a solid minute._

_Then I busted up laughing. I rolled around on the bed, howling with laughter, until I rolled off of the bed, landing with a soft thud on a pile of Emmett's clothes. Tears were streaming down my face. After about seven minutes I was finally able to stop._

"_Well, at least now that's out of the way." I said to them, giggling at the now memory. They smiled slightly, then full on grinned, then they were the ones on the floor with me, and we were all cracking up._

_They both assured me that they were disgusted with that kiss, and that it hadn't changed their relationship one bit. Actually the little experience brought us even closer, which I didn't think was possible. But it was. That was a good time._

_END FLASHBACK_

Okay, now you're probably wondering how we could all be in ninth grade at the same time. Well, Alice's parents thought she was too young to start kindergarten at age 5, so they put her in there at age 6, which was when I started kindergarten. We were instant friends.

And then there's Emmett. Ahhh, Emmett. His parents also waited until he was 6 to put him in kindergarten, but that still put him in there a whole year ahead of us. No one really knows how he did it, but needless to say, Emmett failed kindergarten. So, in his second year of kindergarten, big buff Emmett met Alice and I. We were not instant friends with him. He was girl crazy, even as a 7 year old, but when he tried to mess with Alice she bit him, making him cry. When he tried the same thing with me I punched him in the jaw, making him cry even worse. Weirdly, that brought the three of us all together, and we were best friends.

So, that is how you get the best-friends-practically-siblings Alice, Emmett, and me. Now on with the story.

I sat myself down on their bed and listened to them bicker in the bathroom about just how much space Alice's stuff could take up, because Emmett needed his space too. I laughed quietly. It was just like it used to be back at home.

"Hey guys, are you hungry?" I asked, knowing it was a dumb question as soon as it left my mouth.

"OF COURSE!" Emmett yelled, running out of the bathroom to promptly squish me in a bone-crushing hug. "I thought you'd never ask!"

"Emmett…can't…breathe!!!" I squeaked airily, not being able to say any more than that. He let me go.

"I'll go order two pizza's! One for me, and one for you two!" He said as he skipped merrily out of the room. Which was a sight to see. An extremely buff guy skipping out of a room to go order pizza. Wow.

"Hey Bells?" Alice called from the bathroom. She sounded a little strange. Not as bubbly as usual. "Can you come here for a sec?"

"Sure Ali," I answered back. I walked across the room and entered the large master bathroom. Taking a seat on the edge of the humungous tub, I looked over at her. "What's up baby-cakes?"

She looked at me. Her face was a little paler than usual. "I don't feel right."

I immediately walked over and put my hand on her forehead. She was _hot._ Oh no, this is not good. Alice doesn't get sick often, and when she does, she gets really sick. And there was no denying that she had a fever. And the rest of our housemates were arriving today!

"Baby your forehead is so hot! Go get in that bed right now missy." I commanded. After she was tucked under the blankets, I went to the kitchen to look the first aid kit I knew she had placed under the sink. I passed Emmett on the way. Seeing he was still on the phone, I told him to only order on e pizza. He gave me an odd look, but ordered only one anyway. He hung up as I made my way over there.

"What's going on? Why only one pizza?" He asked.

"Alice is sick, she's burning up. I don't want her eating anything right now." was my answer. He looked a little scared at the thought of Alice being sick, because he knows just as well as I do that Alice gets either really sick, or not sick at all.

I grabbed the first aid bag out from under the sink and dashed back to Alice and Emmett's room. Emmett was already in the bathroom, going through her bag to find her favorite washcloth for her forehead.

I searched through the bag and found the thermometer. I stuck it in her mouth and helped her sit up so I could pull her short pixie hair back in a ponytail. Emmett was just coming out with the cold damp washcloth when the thermometer beeped. I took it out of her mouth and looked at the number.

103.4.

"Alice!" I squeaked. "Your temperature is 103.4!" Emmett looked at me with a scared expression.

"Don't worry," she said faintly. "That's nothing compared to what it's been before." She shivered and Emmett ran to the corner of the room, snatching her blanket from her bag before running back over to us. He spread it over her lovingly.

"There you go sweetie," he said to one of his best friends. "We're gonna take good care of you until you get better." He stroked her bangs back from her face and kissed her sweetly on the forehead, causing her to smile weakly. All of a sudden, Emmett and I sat stiff as a board.

We heard the cars outside pull to a stop, then turn off.

Our new housemates are here.

"Emmett, you stay here with Alice. If she feels like she's going to throw up, there is a trashcan right there," I said, pointing to the other side of the nightstand. "I'm gonna go meet and greet our new housemates." Before I left I stepped in the bathroom to wash my hands, drying them completely afterward. I was just stepping out of Alice and Emmett's room when I heard the door open and shut, followed by the shuffling of more than one person with heavy bags.

I turned the corner into the mini hallway by the stairs only to run smack into a person. I looked up to say hello and was met by a pair of startlingly emerald green eyes.

Oh shit.


	4. A New Beginning

Chapter Four: A New Beginning

_I turned the corner into the mini hallway by the stairs only to run smack into a person. I looked up to say hello and was met by a pair of startlingly green eyes._

_Oh shit._

* * *

I couldn't make my voice work. I swallowed a few times, but my throat was still too thick to talk. So he began instead.

"Hello again, Bella." he said with that crooked smile, eyes twinkling with unheard laughter, knocking out what little breath I had left. I quickly sucked it back in.

"Edward! I didn't expect to see you _this_ soon." I said. I decided to tease him. "What, you couldn't wait to see me until tomorrow?" I laughed, but stopped abruptly when I noticed what he was carrying.

Luggage.

Double shit.

"Actually, I am moving in here, as well as Jasper and Rosalie." His eyes twinkled even more (if that was possible) as he heard my breathing catch, which I knew he would. His perfect lips moved again. "So would I be correct if I guessed that you, and…..Emmett and Alice, was it?" I nodded. He continued, "Are the three people we will be living here with?" He asked.

"That would be correct." I replied, smiling. Then I remembered something. "Oh shit, Alice!" Before he could say anything, I raced into the kitchen and snagged a bold bottle of water from the cooler Emmett had brought in. I whipped around and flew into Alice's room, landing with a thud on her open suitcase, where Emmett had obviously, and destructively, searched and grabbed Alice's pajamas and Ammella, her stuffed monkey. He also conveniently sat the suitcase right in the path from the door to the bed. Way to go Emmett. I climbed up off the bag and sat down gently at Alice's side, setting the water bottle on the nightstand next to her, taking the opportunity to flick off the light. Now the room was only lit by the sunlight that was shining through the blue curtains, giving the room a soft glow.

"She's definitely got the flu," Emmett whispered to me. I nodded, showing him that that's what I thought as well.

"Ali sweetie how you feeling?" I asked her softly. I tucked the blankets in tighter around her as she shivered.

Her teeth chattered a bit as she answered. "S-so c-cold," she whispered, pulling the blankets even tighter around her chin, curling into a ball beneath the covers. Emmett walked into the bathroom and came out with the fully stocked medicine bag that she brought everywhere. He handed it to me. I grabbed the bottle of pills that I needed and gave it back to him. He returned it to its proper place. I grabbed the water bottle and poured a small amount into the cup next to it before pouring the correct amount of pills Alice needed into my hand. I closed the little bottle and put it next to the water on the nightstand.

I focused back on Alice. "Ok sweetie, I know your really tired and really cold, but I need you to sit up so I can help you take these pills, can you do that for me? I'll help you if you like." She nodded weakly, and I helped her sit up. She shivered violently as the cold air hit her hot, exposed back. Emmett quickly moved behind her, propping her up on his chest, keeping her warm. She gave him a grateful glance before looking back at me nodding, telling me she was ready. I brought the hand with the pills to her mouth and popped them in, quickly following them with just enough water for her to swallow them comfortably. I put the glass back on the nightstand as Emmett slid out from behind her and hurriedly covered her up, trying to stifle her shivers.

"See that wasn't so bad sweetie now was it?" he said as he stroked her hair. She nodded in agreement, flashing a small smile before quickly drifting off to sleep.

"We should go Em. She needs sleep, and we need to formally introduce ourselves and greet our new housemates." I gave him a stern look telling him that he WILL go and meet the nice people, because I knew that if could he would stay here and watch Alice all day, just to make sure she was breathing. He is such a sweet-heart. Our Emmy-bear. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead before walking out the door. I leaned in and kissed her forehead as well. "We'll be back later sweetie." I whispered, before quietly leaving the room and pulling the door so it was open a crack in case she needed us.

I walked out into the living room to see Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie and Edward all sitting in the big living room, laughing and looking perfectly at home with one another. Looking around, I saw that there wasn't really much room left to sit, except for in the loveseat.

Whatever. It was right next to Emmett's head, so I could hurt him if necessary.

As in, if he tries to embarrass me.

Again.

Amazingly, Jasper took up one whole side of the couch, while Emmett took up the other. _No wonder, _I thought. _They are both stretched lazily across it. _Edward was laid back in the recliner, hands behind his head as his face lit up with laughter. Perfect, blonde Rosalie was curled up in the mushroom chair, giggling. Nice. I walked over to loveseat and plopped myself down, stretching myself out so that my feet dangled off the end of the far armrest.

"Soooo……" I drew out, not sure what to say. "I see that everyone has met. Except me and Jasper, and me and Rosalie." They both looked shocked that I knew their names. Edward looked shocked that I remembered. That pleased me. Very much so.

"How do you know our names?" Jasper asked inquisitively. I glanced at Rosalie and she was staring at me as well.

"Oh, I met Edward on the shuttle from the airport this morning, and we were talking about why we were here in Key West. I told him about being here with Alice and Emmett, and he told me about being here with you Jasper, and you Rosalie. I just happen to have a pretty good memory is all. He said we would all meet tomorrow, because we were apparently all going out. But that occasion is obviously not needed." I said, just trying to clear the air as quickly as possible. Emmett chuckled. Jasper looked thoughtful, and Rosalie just looked satisfied knowing that I wasn't a stalker or anything.

"Well," Edward said, talking for the first time since I entered the room. "Since we've met Emmett, and we've met you Bella, where is this Alice I keep hearing about?" he asked.

I looked sharply at Emmett. I would have expected that he would have told them already. The boy sometimes has trouble keeping his mouth shut. He just looked sheepish. "Emmett you didn't tell them yet? Jeezzz, the way you run your mouth sometimes I'm surprised you didn't say anything." I said to him. Then I turned back to the other three people in the room.

"Okay, so the basic thing you need to know is that Alice has the flu. Emmett and I are keeping her quarantined to their room until she gets better. Another thing you need to know is that we may need your help if we are not around and she needs someone. Alice doesn't get sick often, so when she does it usually gets really bad. Already she can't sit up by herself, or even take medicine without someone putting it in her mouth and holding the water up to her mouth for her to drink. So I'm guessing it's going to be a bad one. We'll need to keep the noise level down some until she gets better. Is that okay with you guys?" I asked at the end, looking at each other them in turn, and earning nods from all three. That made me smile.

"We just want her to get better," Rosalie said, looking sad finding out that Alice was sick. It made me even happier to think that these three had just learned about Alice and were already worried about her. It was just so damn cute!

"Thanks Rosalie, that's really sweet of you." I said, touched. "Maybe when she wakes up later, if she feels up to it, you three can go back to her room and meet her. She's been dying to meet you all and was mad when she got sick." I smiled at them all. "Now, since I didn't _properly_ introduce myself, I'm Bella Swan. 20 years old, and best friends with this loser," I smacked Emmett on the back of the head. He guffawed, but reciprocated by plucking my forehead.

"Emmett!" I complained, rubbing the spot where he inflicted pain. "That one hurt!"

He just laughed his booming laugh, shaking the couch. I saw Jasper start laughing as well. Already, Emmett's teaching them how to "annoy Bella."

Just peachy.

"So, ummm….." I started. "Is anyone in a relationship? Not trying to pry or anything, just trying to get us all acquainted with one another." I rushed to my defense. I really did just want to get to know everyone better.

"I'm single." Rosalie said forcefully, with an edge to her voice. Edward quickly glanced at her sadly, then turned back. I looked over at Emmett, and he was smiling hugely.

Oh, yeah, not obvious at all Emmett. Good job.

Edward piped up next. "I've been dating a girl named Tanya for about two years now. We grew up together. She's great." I noticed Rosalie and Jasper both rolled their eyes extremely obviously when he said the name 'Tanya.' I wonder what that's about. But then I realized that Rosalie wasn't his girlfriend! She was his SISTER! Yay! But when he said he had a girlfriend I know my face fell, because I felt my heart fall too.

_Wait, I don't even KNOW this guy, this is not supposed to happen!!_ I thought to myself. _Shut up and CHILL OUT Bella! _I screamed in my head.

Now it's Jasper's turn. "I am with a girl named Maria. But actually, and Edward and Rose, I know this isn't the best time to tell you; things aren't going so well between us. I think it might end soon. I walked in on her and James. James. My best friend! They were having sex. That was the night before we left. I haven't talked to her yet." He looked really sad and upset. Rosalie ran over to comfort him.

"Oh Jazzy I'm so sorry! Everything will be okay and will work out. I promise. Love you baby bro." She crooned in his ear as she curled up on top of him, hugging him. He hugged her back with a muffled 'thank you.'

"Okay, now that you guys know about our love lives, why don't you tell us about yours?" Edward said, grinning as he answered a text on his phone.

_Tanya,_ I fumed in my head.

I came to when I realized Emmett had opened his unusually large and loud mouth. "Well your old boy Emmett here is most definitely single. Little miss Alice back there just recently got dumped by her boyfriend Aro about a month ago. She is kinda touchy about it, so please don't mention it. Got it? Good. Thanks. Bells?" He looked at me expectantly. Oh, I'm supposed to talk now, aren't I? Whoops.

"Single." I said bluntly. "And have been for a couple of years. Yeah, I might have dated here and there throughout high school, but nothing really meant anything. No one was really right for me ya know? So no boyfriend for Bella!" I said cheerfully, smiling. They just looked at me. Then I heard retching.

"Alice!" I exclaimed, and attempted to jump off the loveseat. Being clumsy me, I tripped on nothing and landed with a _THUD_ on the floor. "Shit!" I screeched, pissed. I hauled my ass off the floor and raced to her room, Emmett on my heels. We burst through the door and raced too the bathroom, only to find her crouched over the toilet, puking up anything she had eaten on the plane. I walked calmly over to her and knelt down next to her, rubbing small circles on her back soothingly. Emmett grabbed a headband off of the bathroom counter and knelt on her other side, sliding the headband on her to keep her bangs out of her face.

She stopped throwing up long enough to breathe, swill some water around in her mouth, and spit it back out. Emmett picked her back up and was walking towards the bed when her hand slapped over her mouth. He whirled around and raced back into the bathroom, positioning her over the toilet just before she resumed puking everything up. How much could the girl have in her stomach? She threw up a couple more times before it turned into dry heaves, her body convulsing with each one. She finally stopped and her body slumped against Emmett's chest again as she gasped for air.

As her breathing slowed, so did my panic. I calmed down more as she opened her mouth to speak.

"I'm sorry," she croaked. "I wish you guys didn't see that."

"Forget about it Alice." Emmett interjected. "We've seen you with worse. It's fine, and you know it." He looked at her pointedly.

"Yeah, I know." She giggled. She had to feel a bit stronger, if she was giggling.

I figured Alice would want to clean up, so I sent Emmett away to entertain our friends. "Emmett, since I'm sure Alice wants a bath," she nodded her head vigorously. That's Alice for you. "Why don't you go and keep our new friends company while I help Alice clean herself up. Then maybe if she feels up to it, Alice and I will come out there and visit for a few minutes." She smiled at that. I turned to her. "I know you really want to meet them. They want to meet you too. They also said to get well soon." She looked touched.

I shooed Emmett out, closing and locking the door behind him.

"Okay Alice, shower or bath?" I asked, even though I knew she would choose taking a bath. She absolutely _loves_ bubble baths.

"Bath please sissy," she said. My whole body softened when she called me that. When we were little, she always acted like the younger one, even though she is a whole year older than me. Whenever she would get a scrape, or someone would hurt her feelings, I was always the one with the band-aid, or the one who would comfort her and make her feel better. She took to calling me sissy in second grade, after a small group of boys had tormented and teased her.

* * *

_FLAHSBACK:_

_I was in class, practicing my cursive when the teacher came in, kneeling in front of my desk. I put my pencil down and looked up at her, waiting. She smiled._

"_Bella," she said. "Could you come into the hall with me real quick? I need to do something for me." I had no idea what she was talking about, but I slipped into the hall behind her anyway._

"_Ms. Cope, where's Alice?" I asked, wondering where by bestest friend was._

_She smiled. "That's what I needed to ask you little one. Alice won't come out of the bathroom. She's locked herself in one of the stalls and is crying. She won't tell me what's wrong. Do you think you could go talk to her and see what you can do?" I nodded vigorously, running to the bathroom to find her. It was empty when I got there._

_Then I heard a small sniffle from the last stall all the way over by the window. I went and stood in front of the door._

"_Ali? Is that you?" I tried to peer through the cracks in the door, but I couldn't see anything. I heard a small sob, and a quaky 'uh huh.' It was Alice. "Ali will you open the door? Please? No one else is here."_

_She opened the door and slowly came out of the stall. Her face was red and puffy, and her face was tearstained. There was a little bit of snot trailing from her nose. I grabbed toilet paper from another stall and wiped her face._

_I know, amazing I could do this at age 8, isn't it?_

_She let me wipe her face, then slid down the wall and buried her face in her knees, drawing her legs up to her chest as she wrapped her arms around her shins. I instantly sat down Indian style next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. She lifted her head and buried her face in my shoulder, sobbing. When I find out who did this, I am SO going to make them pay, I thought. Better yet, I'll tell Emmett. Hehehe._

"_It w-was Marcus, C-Caius, and Aro-o. They cornered me at recess and started t-teasing me. They called me 'midget' and 'freak' and t-threw s-stones at m-me. Look!" She held out her right arm. There was a nasty scratch that was bleeding where one of the stones obviously cut her. I looked at her other arm. There were some faint red marks. Her forehead had a small cut on it as well. Oh, I am SO TELLING EMMETT!!!!! I kissed the scratches that weren't bleeding and helped her to stand up. "Thanks sissy," she said quietly. I smiled. I liked being Ali's "sister." I wetted a paper towel and cleaned up her face. I left the scratches alone, wanting to show Ms. Cope and Ms. Stanley, the school nurse. Once it looked like she wasn't crying, we walked back to Ms. Cope's room._

_When we entered the room everyone stared at us. Marcus, Caius and Aro just sneered. Cheeky little boys aren't they? I just kept walking and steered Alice towards Ms. Cope's desk at the back of the room. She looked happy and relieved when she saw me leading Alice over._

"_Thank you Bella," she said. Then she turned to Alice. "Alice are you okay?" she asked. I looked at Alice. If she started talking she would probably start crying. I decided to talk instead._

"_Ms. Cope, Alice told me why she was crying when we were in the bathroom." I began. "When we were out at recess, Marcus, Caius and Aro cornered her and started making fun of her height. Alice can't help it that she's short! Well, they cornered her where no one could see and started calling her names like 'midget' and 'freak.'" I stopped, waiting for her reaction._

"_Boys!" she said, shocked. They looked a little nervous._

"_Then, when they finished calling her names, they started throwing stones at her!" I got angry. "LOOK!" I pulled out Alice's arms, showing the cuts and bruises. Then I pointed out the cut on her forehead. Ms. Cope gasped at her injuries._

"_Marcus Volturi, Caius Brimstone, and Aro Didyme get over here NOW!" she yelled sternly. They got up and quickly walked over. "How could you hurt Alice like that? You are all supposed to be friends! Apologize at once!"_

"_We're sorry Alice." They all chorused._

_Ms. Cope spoke again. "I am calling all of your parents. Now go to the office and sit in the chairs by the front desk. NO TALKING!" They left the room quickly. I ushered Ali to the nurse's office and the school let us both go home early. Her parents took us out for ice cream._

_END FLASHBACK_

* * *

Now, when she's sick or she needs help, she always calls me sissy. That's how I know she really needs me.

I turned the tap of and filled the large tub with hot, steamy water. Once it was full, I poured a ton of bubble bath mix into it and swirled it around. Then, I eased her out of her pajama bottoms and top. I unclasped the back of her bra and dropped it to the floor with her other clothes. I slid her underwear off and piled it on top of the rest of her things. Then I helped her climb into the bathtub. She sunk in so that she was completely concealed up to her chin by bubbles and water. I let her sit there for about ten minutes, just enjoying the water before I made her sit up and turn her back to me.

I dipped her head into the water just enough so that I could wet her hair. I grabbed her shampoo that smelled like vanilla and poured a palmful in my hand. I slowly and steadily massaged it into her hair, massaging her scalp as well. I felt her relax into my touch. I didn't do this often, but I knew it soothed her. After I was done rinsing out the shampoo, I repeated the process with her same vanilla-smelling conditioner. Once I rinsed that out as well, let her enjoy the rest of the bath while softly massaging her temples as she soaked in the remaining hot water. When the water began to lose heat, and the bubbled were almost gone, I pulled her out of the tub, wrapping her in a huge fluffy towel and seating her on the toilet.

"Sit right here." I said as I went out into her room. I walked over to her suitcase and grabbed a clean pair of underwear, her most comfortable and favorite sports bra, a pair of light cotton yellow pajama pants, and a matching bright yellow tank top. I walked back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I went over and dried her off with towel, wrapping her hair up in another. I slid her underwear on, following it with her bra. I pulled her legs through her pajama pants, tying them right where I knew she liked them. Then I eased the tank top over her head and coaxed her arms through the holes.

I sat her back on the toilet seat and unwrapped her hair. I spritzed detangler on her hair and picked up her brush. I slowly and very gently brushed through her hair, making sure to get all the knots. When I was done, I put the brush down and knelt in front of her.

"What else do you need help with?" I asked lovingly. She smiled just a bit.

"Can you please help me brush my teeth sissy? My mouth tastes nasty." She said. I nodded, and picked up her toothbrush from its place next to the sink. I squeezed some toothpaste on it and brushed her teeth for her. After she rinsed and spit, I felt her forehead again. It was still hot, but felt a little cooler. I walked her back out of the bathroom and sat her on the bed. I picked the thermometer up from off of the nightstand and stuck it under her tongue.

"Close your mouth missy." I commanded. She obeyed. About a minute later it beeped. I pulled it out of her mouth.

"Okay Ali-cat, your temperature has dropped from 103.4 down to 100 in the last couple of hours. Looks like your just going to have a 24-hour thing. But with you, you will probably be miserable. Sorry. But, since your fever seems to be dropping quickly, would you like to go and meet our housemates?" I asked, even though I knew what here answer would be.

"Oh, please, please, please!!!" She begged, bouncing up and down with restored energy. Looks like that bath did wonders for her.

"Do you think you can walk out there?" I asked. "Or do you want me to have Emmett come and carry you out there?" She had been shaky just walked back from the bathroom, so I was going to call Emmett anyway, but I wanted to give her the choice.

She looked a bit apprehensive. "Can you call Emmy please? I don't know I'm strong enough to walk all the way to living room yet." I nodded, and walked over to the door, opening it.

I stepped into the hallway. "Emmett!" I yelled down the hall. "C'mere!" I heard him barrel down the hallway, clomping all the way to Alice's room. I moved out of the way and let him in.

"What's up Bellarina?" he asked. Then he saw that Alice was up, and actually looking much better. "ALI! You're awake! And you look a lot better too!" he practically yelled, running over to give her a hug. I was amazed that he didn't crush her.

"Emmett, Alice's fever has gone down quite a bit, and she is feeling a lot better. I decided that she can go and meet Edward, Rosalie and Jasper. But she's not strong enough to walk all the way to the living room by herself. I need you to carry her there. Lay her on the loveseat. I will bring one of her bed pillows and her blanket." He nodded, and let go of Alice.

Scooping her up in his arms, he positioned her so that her head was resting on his shoulder, with her arm wrapped around his neck. I grabbed a pillow and her blanket and lead him to the living room. I smiled at everyone as I crossed the room and placed her pillow at the far end of the loveseat, so she could face the entire room and see everybody. Emmett followed behind me and laid a smiling Alice down on the small couch. I propped her up against the pillows in a sitting position.

"Emmett," I said. "Go get her some ginger ale from the cooler you put in the kitchen. Bring it out here with a cup." I ordered. He ran to do as I asked. I loved being able to boss him around. Of course, him and Alice are also the two of a few people who will flat out refuse me and be stubborn about it. But this time, it was for Alice so he complied willingly.

He came back and sat the cup on the coffee table right next to her. He cracked open the can and poured it into the cup full of ice. She smiled at him as he took his seat, (more like bed), on the couch, and completely stretched out across it again. I lifted Alice's blanketed feet and sat down, setting them down gently on my lap.

"Thanks Emmy, Bella." Alice said, reaching for her ginger ale. She took a small sip, and smiled as she swallowed.

She turned to the other three occupants of the house. "So, as you know, I'm Alice. I would have been out here earlier to meet you, but I came down with some 24-hour flu bug this morning. So I couldn't really greet you. But my fever went down a lot so Bella said I could come and see everybody." She was bouncing again. Alice. Always so hyper.

Emmett was about to start the introductions when Alice cut him off with a squeal.

"OOOH!" she squealed. "Let me guess." She look at Jasper for a moment before saying, "you must be Jasper," He looked surprised that she knew who he was. She continued, "and that means you have to be Edward, because you're the only other guy here. And last, but certainly not least," she looked at Rosalie, "you are _obviously_ Rosalie because you are the only girl here that I don't know, which, makes you Rosalie." She looked at all of them at the same time now, not just individually. "Was I right?" she asked, smiling.

"Yeah." Jasper answered. He looked kinda shocked that she figured that out right away.

And of course, Emmett being Emmett had to comment. "Jeez, what are you Alice, psychic or something?" he laughed. She was always guessing exactly what was what, and never getting any surprises because she always figured them out. Of course, Emmett usually spilled the beans about secrets anyway, but she still managed to figure it out, all the same.

"Noooo…." she dragged the word out, making all six of us, her included, laugh.

"Ha Ha, it's nice to finally meet you Alice. Emmett and Bella have both told us a bit about you." His eyes twinkled again.

She glared at Emmett and I. "All good, I _hope._" She said between her teeth. Uh oh, the menacing Alice glare! I was quick to defend Emmett and myself.

"Of course it was all good Alice!" I said loudly. Then I lowered my voice so only Emmett and Alice could hear me. "Unless you count that time…" she looked at me with a horrified expression, and Emmett and I busted up laughing. It was so funny. The other three looked at us oddly, so we shut up and decided to behave and give Alice her chance, since I knew she would have to go back to the room eventually for more rest. I decided to be nice.

"So did everyone figure out where they are sleeping? Pick a room?" I asked, just out of curiosity. Rosalie spoke up first.

"Well," she started. "Jasper is basically like my big brother, even though he is actually my _little_ brother. We even act like twins sometimes. It's weird. But we decided to share the upstairs master bedroom. It's big, the closet can hold all my stuff, plus Jazz's, which is really good, and the bathroom is _huge_!" she finished. She looked happy that she was sharing a room with Jasper, and that was sweet. But if they were sharing the other master room, Alice and Emmett had the downstairs room, and I had one of the two large bedrooms, that meant the person across the hall from me that I would be sharing a bathroom with is…

"I have the big bedroom on the right side of the hallway next to the bathroom. And since Alice and Emmett have the room downstairs, and Rose and Jazz have the big one upstairs, that would leave you in the room across from me, and us sharing a bathroom, Bella. Is that correct?" he asked me for clarification. Alice looked at me.

…Edward, I finished my thought from earlier.

Damnit!

I realized that he was still waiting for an answer. "Yeah, I'm in the room across from yours. And yes, you and I will be sharing the bathroom in between our two rooms." I smiled at him. He smiled back, and I got lost in his beauty. It seemed like we got lost in each other's eyes. No, he doesn't like me like that, I thought. He has a _girlfriend_.

* * *

EPOV:

(these will be randomly spread throughout the story, popping in at random moments for short glimpses at how Edward feels.)

When she finished clarifying for me that it was her who would be living in the room across from me, and that we would be sharing the large bathroom in between them, she smiled at me. Something about her just made me smile back. She seemed to get lost in my face.

I looked back at her, and I stared into her eyes. They were deep pools of chocolate, so pretty. We just sat there and stared into each other's eyes, getting lost in our own little world. After staring for what could have been years, she tore her gaze away from me and looked at Alice, making sure she was okay. I collected myself and reentered reality, striking the previous conversation back up.

"That's cool," I said, and she jumped a little at the sound of my voice. I laughed. She looked over at me and joined in the laughter, nodding. I could tell we would be great _friends._

* * *

BPOV

After about another hour of just hanging out in the living room and getting to know each other much better, I noticed that Alice was starting to look tired.

"Ali sweetie are you ready to go back to sleep?" I asked sweetly.

"Mmhmm," she replied with a yawn. "Yeah Bella." She looked at Edward, Rosalie and Jasper.

"I'm really glad I got to meet you guys today," she said. "I would have gone crazy if Bella had made me wait any longer. But I'm so tired, so I'm gonna go get some sleep. See you all in the morning, kay?" she finished, and then yawned again. Emmett got up again and lifted her, pillow, blanket and all.

"Good night Alice," Jasper said. "Feel better in the morning."

Edward and Rosalie finished with a mumbled and staggered, "Night. Feel better."

Emmett carried her back to their room with me behind him. He laid Alice down to sleep and I tucked her in, kissing her forehead. Emmett stroked her bangs back gently, and placed a soft kiss on her forehead as well.

"Feel better soon, princess." He cooed in her ear.

She smiled. "I promise Emmy. And thanks sissy." She sighed contentedly and curled up into a ball beneath the covers, nestling her head into the pillow. Her mouth slackened within minutes and I knew she was out. Emmett and I crept out into the hallway, pulling the door to again. We talked as we walked out to the living room.

"She still calls you sissy, huh?" Emmett questioned me.

"Yeah, but only when she's really tired, or sick, or when she _really_ needs my help. I think it's really sweet. I love it when she calls me that though, because we both consider the other as a sister, just like we both consider you our big protective brother. Remember that time in second grade when those three boys hurt Alice? I told you and you went all big brother protective over us, and beat the pulp out of them." He smiled really wide when I called him our big brother. I knew he thought of us as sisters.

"Thanks Bells." He whispered as he pulled me in for a bone-crushing hug.

"Emmett," I gasped. "Can't…Breathe!" He let me down quickly, steadying me as we walked to the living room.

"Sorry Bellarina." He said sheepishly. I just laughed at him.

"Oh chill out Em, you know I'm not mad." I smiled at him, and he laughed. We entered the room and took our seats again. Emmett jumped back up when the doorbell rang. Of course he did, it was the pizza guy. He paid the guy and reentered the room with…_two pizzas?_

"Em, I thought I told you only _one_ pizza." I scolded.

"But Bellarina, I ordered the other pizza anyway, because first of all, I can practically eat a whole pizza by myself. And I was hoping that they would be here all ready and could help you eat the other one. And since it's Pizza Hut, I ordered three orders of breadsticks, and there are five of them in each order, and since the little pixie back there isn't eating any of it, that leaves five of us, and fifteen breadsticks, which means that…" he scrunched up his face as he tried to figure out the number of breadsticks that we each got.

I laughed. Emmett always says too many things in one breath and gets confused. "We each get three, Em." I finished, chuckling. His face relaxed into a smile.

"Thanks Bells," was his sarcastic comeback. "I NEVER would've gotten that one on my own." But he was grinning, the big jokester.

"You're welcome Emmy-poo!" Was my sweet revenge. We gave each other joking evil smiles, our specialty, and made our way back into the living room. Emmett sat back down on the sofa, sitting the two pizzas and the breadsticks on the coffee table.

"We need plates," he stated matter-of-factly. It's not like he's gonna use one anyway, but whatever. Rosalie and I stood up at the same time.

"I'll get them," we said in unison. "Come on," I continued. "I'll show you where they are." I gave her a nice, genuine smile.

"Thanks Bella." She said, smiling back. We made our way past the boys and headed to the kitchen. I walked over to the cabinet where the paper plates were, and grabbed a stack, passing them to Rosalie. Then I grabbed a couple of pairs of silverware, and a stack of napkins.

"Rosalie," I started. She looked at me with a smile.

"Yes?" she questioned.

"I think we're are gonna be good friends." I finished, hoping she wouldn't think I was crazy. I smiled.

"You know what Bella," she said. "I think you're right. I don't really have many girlfriends, so you and Alice would be amazing to have as friends." She said with feeling. It made me smile even wider.

"Good," I finished.

We made our way back into the living room to find that the guys had eaten almost all of one of the pizzas. I knew Emmett. He would eat both and leave none for me, Rosalie, and Alice.

"EMMETT!" I yelled, at the exact same time that Rosalie yelled, "EDWARD! JASPER!" they all turned to look at us with innocent expressions. I giggled. Rosalie marched over and snatched up the other pizza, not bothering to put down the plates because they wouldn't use them anyway.

"Bella," she said. "Why don't we go see if Alice is up to some company?"

"Why Rosalie, I think that's a _wonderful_ idea!" I said enthusiastically. We left the room, glaring at the boys the whole way. When we got into the hallway, we cracked up, picturing the boys' horrified faces. I've got to admit, it's extremely funny.

I poked my head around Alice's door and saw her sitting up in the bed, propped up on the pillows with her sketchbook placed up against her knees, her fingers gliding the sketching pencil across the page. That made me smile. If she's up to drawing new designs, then she's up for visitors. And maybe, just maybe, some pizza too.

"Ali?" I asked, not really wanting to interrupt her. "Do you mind if we come in and visit for a bit? We brought pizza!" She looked up at me and smiled at the prospect of pizza. Then she smiled even wider.

"Rosalie!" she exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're here! With all these boys in the house we girls are going to have to stick together, especially around Emmett. Why don't the three of us get to know each other a bit better?" Rosalie and I made our way across the room and plopped down on the end of the bed, putting the pizza and the plates and utensils in the middle.

"So Alice," Rosalie said. "Tell me a bit about yourself. What do you like to do?" She just had to ask the dreaded question. Now all I'm going to here about for the next hour is fashion, fashion, fashion! I swear, because of Alice, I'm going to wake up one day drowning in her fashion. Ew.

"Well," the pixie began. "You already know I'm 21. Bella and Emmett are my two best friends in the world. They are like the siblings I've never had. I love them so much." She shot me a warm smile. "And I can tell you, the one thing I like the most is FASHION! I design a lot of my own clothes, especially dresses and such. I like my stuff to be one of a kind. And by me making it, it definitely is. And I love, love, love SHOPPING! It is SO MUCH FUN!" I cringed at her enthusiasm with shopping. Rosalie however was a completely different story.

"Oh my god, I love shopping too! It is amazing! I love trying on clothes, and just going into stores! Ah, I love it!" her and Alice instantly started comparing designers, and I tried to make it look like I was following what they were saying, but in truth, it all sounded like another language to me. When their conversation finally dwindled, I decided to change the topic. _Fast._

"So Rosalie," I asked. "What's your life like?" Her face immediately lost the tiniest bit of color, and by glancing at Alice, I knew she saw it too. She ran her fingers through her long blonde hair almost nervously, before saying anything.

"Well as you know, I'm 22." She started. "I love shopping, but I also love cars. I really want to open my own shop so I can work on cars for a living. They are so amazing." She stated passionately.

"What were you doing before you moved here?" Alice questioned. I gave her a look. I just had this feeling that something was about to go wrong. Rosalie started to look around nervously, her eyes twitching from side to side. She pulled her knees up to her chin and rested it there, arms wrapped around her legs, in an attempt to look calm. She wasn't.

"Ummm.." she said nervously. I decided to give her a little push.

"Any boyfriends to speak of?"

And that's when it happened.

She started to shake. Her eyes widened in fear as she looked around the room crazily, her eyes darting everywhere. Her whole body was just shaking and shaking. Alice tried to put her hand on her arm but she jerked away, looking more scared than ever. She looked like someone was going to attack her. We needed to do something.

A tear rolled down her cheek. She felt it, and then sprung from the bed. She ran to the corner of the room farthest from the door and resumed her earlier position, but seated on the floor, rocking back and forth.

We needed to get her brothers in here.

She whimpered.

_NOW._


	5. The Truth About Rosalie

Chapter 5: The Truth About Rosalie

_A tear rolled down her cheek. She felt it, and then sprung from the bed. She ran to the corner of the room farthest from the door and resumed her earlier position, but seated on the floor, rocking back and forth._

_We needed to get her brothers in here._

_She whimpered._

_NOW._

* * *

"Alice," I said quickly. "Stay here with Rosalie. Don't touch her. I'm going to get Jasper and Edward." She nodded, and I took off, flying down the hallway and into the living room, where the boys were laughing loudly. The laughter stopped abruptly when I crashed into the back of the couch, making it shake.

"Be careful Bellarina!" Emmett guffawed. Then he saw my face. "What's wrong?" he said quickly, shifting into big brother mode. Brothers. I turned to Jasper and Edward.

"We need your help, _now_." I said, trying to sound urgent. I guess it worked. They both jumped up.

"What's wrong?" the said simultaneously.

"It's Rosalie," I explained. "She seems to be having like a panic attack or something. Either way, she won't let us anywhere near her. She's shaking, and rocking, and whimpering, and mumbling. I don't know what to do." I said helplessly. They gave each other knowing looks, and then Jasper summed the situation up in one word.

"Shit." He and Edward raced down the hallway and came to a dead stop as soon as they entered the bedroom and saw Rosalie in the corner. Their faces showed looks of fear, and of anger. They both made their way over towards Rosalie very slowly.

"Rosie?" Jasper said quietly. "It's me, Jazzy. No one is going to get you. You're safe here. They can't hurt you anymore. He can't touch you. He's in a whole different state. He doesn't know where you are. No one is going to hurt you ever again. I promise." Emmett and I watched this from the side. My mind was working double time, trying to make sense of what Jasper was saying. Emmett looked as worried as Jasper and Edward were. I could tell he was already falling head-over-heels for her. Then my head whipped back to Rosalie when she spoke up.

"JAZZY!" she screamed. She tried to protect herself with her hands. Her face was red and she was sobbing hysterically. "Jazzy help! No, don't touch me! Stop, please! I'll do whatever you want, PLEASE! JJAAZZZYYY!!!!!!" She stopped screaming only to sob even harder.

I felt tears running down my face. I could already guess part of what happened to her. And it made me feel sick. I leaned into Emmett's side for support, and he wrapped one of arms around me, holding me close. I looked at Jasper. He had tears running down his face as well, and that made me cry harder. Edward stood over near Alice, supporting her while she cried for Rosalie, an angry glare in his eyes. He is not happy

"Rosie sweetie, Rose-petal," Jasper's voice broke with his tears. "It's me, Jazzy. You're safe now. Rosie, look at me." He touched his fingers to her chin to get her to look at him and she screamed the loudest yet, attempting to bury herself in the wall, she tried so hard to get away from him. Jasper looked heart-broken. "She'd never been so far gone that I couldn't get her back before." He whispered, silent tears flowing freely down his cheeks. I left Emmett's embrace to go and give him a hug. He buried his face in my neck. I could feel his body shaking with the sobs, even though he was silent. I made my heart break even more. I looked over at Emmett. He was calmly walking over to Rosalie, which made me wary.

"Emmett," I warned. Jasper looked over, and saw him walking towards Rosalie.

"Emmett," he said. "nothing you do will help. You're a stranger to her. She's going to get worse." His voice cracked on that last word.

"Just let me try something." He said softly. He got right up in front of her, and then crouched down to her level. She tried to back away even more. I had no idea what he was about to do.

He started humming.

Of course, it was the opening tune to Will and Grace, because he loves that show. But, she stopped trying to back away.

He continued humming the whole time as he put his hands on her arms. She didn't scream. He sat down on the floor all the way, and sat her in his lap, him leaning against the wall, still humming. She let him.

"Rosie-baby" he said. "It's me, Emmett. Jasper was right. You are safe now. No one is ever going to hurt you. Along with Jasper and Edward, I won't let them. Come on Rosie, come back." He said encouragingly, in an attempt to bring her out of her memory, which I knew she was locked in. It didn't work. "Rosie sweetie, come back to Emmy-bear." And he began to hum the song again. That did it.

The haunted look left her eyes, and she looked up at his face, tears still running in torrents down her cheeks. When she saw whose lap she was sitting in, she turned into his chest and started apologizing through her tears.

"I'm s-sorry," she said. "I'm s-so sor-ry." She repeated those words endlessly as she cried into Emmett. He smoothed her hair with one large hand; the other was wrapped around her back, rubbing it up and down soothingly. He was humming to her and gently rocking side to side, trying to calm her down.

All four of us looked at him in awe. I had been certain that she was going to be impossible to calm down. It took me all of five seconds to realize that if he wasn't already in love with her, the fact that he had been able to bring her back when her brothers couldn't told me that he was now. Rosalie's sobs turned into soft, whimpering cries, and slowly died down to just a few tears.

"Are you okay Rosalie?" Emmett asked worriedly. His face looked so heart-broken for her already, and he barely even knew her.

She looked at his face sheepishly. "I think I am now. Thank you Emmett." She said sincerely. Apparently content with where she was, she shifted a bit and tucked her head back under his chin, curling up on his lap. He smiled slightly and tightened his arms around her, pulling her snug against him.

"It's all right Rose," he said. "You just go ahead and take a nap. I'll be right here in case anything bad happens. Okay?" She nodded against his chest, and promptly fell asleep. He looked up at us, smiled widely, then proceeded to lean his head against the wall and fall asleep as well. I looked over at Jasper, Edward, and Alice, and motioned for them to leave the room. I followed them out, closing the door softly behind me. When I walked out to the living room, they were all just standing around.

"Why don't we all go up to my room?" I said. "My bed is plenty big enough for the four of us to sit on, and we have less of a chance of waking them up. And I think Rosalie needs to rest." They nodded in a silent agreement, and followed me up to my room.

I took the corner of the bed that was placed where the two walls form a corner. Alice sat up next to me at the head by the pillows, while Jasper took the end on her side. Edward sat against the wall to my left.

Now that we were settled, I had a feeling that we were about to have a serious talk. I hugged a pillow to my chest in anticipation.

Alice was the first to break the silence. "So, I know this is probably not going to be easy, but if we're going to be living together as a group, I think Bella and I need to know about Rosalie. We can tell Emmett later." I looked at Jasper and Edward. Both of their faces portrayed pain, while anger showed brightly in their eyes. This was not going to be good. Jasper spoke up first. He was blunt.

"Rosalie was kidnapped, held hostage for a month, and raped multiple times." Alice let out a squeak, quickly followed by tears, while I buried my face in my pillow, shaking my head back and forth, as if I could shake the truth away. Tears came instantly, clouding my eyes. He continued.

"It was about a year ago. Some ex-boyfriend named Mike. He didn't like being her ex. Edward, Rosalie and I were supposed to have our sibling night, where we sit home and watch movies all night long. Edward and I always go to get the movies from the video store, one of us going, and one of us staying home with Rosalie. So, one night, we didn't know what movies to get, so we both decided to go. We hadn't known at the time that Rosalie had been getting creepy texts from Mike, each one creepier than the last. We both headed off to the video store. We got home about a half-an-hour later to find the living room empty. We checked the kitchen, the bathroom, her bathroom, her bedroom, she wasn't anywhere. Edward ran out to the garage and found her car still parked exactly where she had parked it earlier." He paused to take a deep breath and calm himself, and I had a feeling that it was about to get a whole lot worse.

"We went back up to her room, and started searching. That's when I saw that one of her desk drawers was slightly open. She never leaves anything out of place. I pulled it open all the way, discovering that he had been sending her multiple pictures a day of herself, that he had taken. I started cursing, dumping the contents of the drawer onto her bed so I could spread them out. There were pictures of her at the garage, the grocery store, the diner, with us, in the pool in our backyard, in our living room, and the worst, the worst were pictures of her in the shower. This guy had been spying on her for weeks, and sending her the pictures! And she never even told us!" he was getting angry now. His mouth was tight, his eyes a hard, bright blue. I hugged my pillow closer, trying to crush my disgust with this guy. He made my skin crawl already.

Jasper's face grew angrier as he went on with his story.

"_FUCK!" I screamed, dropping the pictures. My brain was moving a million miles an hour, I was so confused. "Damnit Edward! What are we going to do?!" I all but screamed at his calm, level face. How could he not be reacting to this?! Our big sister was just kidnapped by a psycho stalker ex, and he is just standing here?!_

_He spoke in a cold, hard voice. "We are going to find her and bring her home, no matter how long it takes. Then we are going to find that bastard Newton and pay him back our dues." As he spoke, his face remained calm. But his voice cut like a knife, his eyes blazing a hard, emerald green. Anyone would be scared out of their mind. I was. I'd never seen him like this before._

"_Yes," I replied, my voice equally cold. "We are."_

_For the next two weeks, Edward and I searched non-stop for Rosalie. We looked everywhere we could think of. The police searched, everyone in the town searched, our parents searched. We couldn't seem to find her anywhere. Not a trace. We never received any notes. Not a single phone-call. After two weeks, the police gave up. Our parents gave up. The town gave up. They all decided that since we hadn't found her, then she must be dead. But Edward and I, we refused to give up. Every night when we went home, we listened to our mother cry for her "lost baby girl" while our father tried to console her. We woke up in the morning and set out in my car, searching high and low for Rosie. She was nowhere to be found._

_By the end of the third week, Edward and I were so discouraged that we decided we couldn't search anymore, and would have to finally accept that we wouldn't find her. At the end of the fourth week that she was missing, now considered a month, Edward and I got home from a meeting at the church about Rosalie's funeral, (they all wanted to try to move on even if we didn't), and we heard the phone ring. Feeling it would be another griever, I answered the phone, putting it on speaker for us both to hear._

"_Hello?" I answered._

"_Good afternoon Jasper, Edward. How are my two favorite guilty-feeling brothers doing this fine afternoon?" a smug voice replied. A very _familiar_ smug voice. Where have I heard that voice before. I could see Edward wracking his brains to find the answer himself –_

_Oh. My. God._

"_NEWTON!!!!!"__ I roared. "You fucking asshole! You son-of-a-bitch! Where is Rosalie?! What did you do to her?! TELL ME YOU ASSHOLE! WHERE. IS. MY. SISTER?!!!!!!?????!!!!" I was full out screaming profanity at him._

"_I don't think you'll be seeing your sister again boys. I'm so sorry." He finished with sarcasm._

_There was silence._

_Edward threw himself on the couch, burying his head in a pillow. He's the youngest. Rosalie always stood up for him in school when he was picked on. She was never afraid to protect us. This hit him hard._

_Rosie. My sister. The third of our trio. Our parents first born. Dead._

_No._

"_Oh, she's not dead though." My heart stopped. Rosie's ALIVE! I was so elated that I almost missed the rest of the statement. "But in just two short days, we are catching a bus out of this little town of Forks to the airport. We are hopping on a one way plane out of this country to a place where we'll never be found. She will regret the day she dumped me."_

_Rosie's alive, but this bastard is going to try and take her away for good. But he made one mistake in telling us his plans. He said they would catch bus OUT of Forks. Which means that they are still IN Forks._

_I felt a renewed energy within my determination, and within my heart. We WILL find Rosalie. And she WILL be alive. And we WILL bring her home._

"_Newton, you just messed with the wrong family. You harm one hair on her head and I WILL kill you, unless someone else finds you first." I told him, my voice menacing._

"_Good luck." He said, before hanging up. I slammed my hand on the phone holder, hanging up my line as well. I walked over to Edward, who had raised his head as soon as he heard that she was alive. He was sitting there looking thoughtful._

"_Edward?" I asked slowly, not sure of his mood at the time._

_He looked at me. "Where haven't we searched yet?" he asked, getting out a piece of paper so we could decipher where to look next. I thought back to the past three weeks. It seemed as though we had searched everywhere. I really had no idea where to look. We had searched around the school area, the abandoned houses in the area, every inch of Port Angeles. She was nowhere._

_Unless……_

"_Edward!" I exclaimed, startling him out of his reverie. "Edward, we forgot about that abandoned old cottage in the woods behind the school! Remember?! Rose told us Mike took her there for a "picnic" once?" I was excited now. We may have just found her!_

"_Oh my god, you're right! I totally forgot about it!" he jumped up from the couch. Then he paused. "But tomorrow's Friday. There's school. And I don't even remember where in there it is." He finished sorrowfully. He looked heart-broken._

"_But I remember the vicinity where it is. And who cares if there's school tomorrow?! We'll go anyway and search until we find her." I said with feeling. He looked at me and nodded in agreement. Then we heard the sound of the door opening and closing, and the shuffling of our parents feet as they walked through the entrance hall. The sniffling told me that mom was trying to get her emotions under control before she saw us._

_When they entered the room and saw us standing there, triumphant smiles on our faces, they stopped in the doorway, giving us odd looks._

"_Boys," dad said. "What is going on?" he looked at up quizzically, wondering why we were smiling when our only sister is supposedly dead. I looked at Edward and he nodded in response. I turned back to their faces to tell them the truth._

"_We didn't want to tell you, because we didn't want to get your hopes up, but we think we know where Rosalie is, and tomorrow we are going to get her." I said straightforwardly._

"_Jasper," Dad said. "You and Edward have been doing this ever since the police gave up. You are just causing your mother more heart-break than she has already suffered because of this. We have been over it. Rosalie isn't coming back. Do you have any idea how much I want my baby girl back? But because of some sick bastard, I am never going to get to see her again!" his voice cracked when he said "baby girl." Tears filled his eyes and he turned away, determined not to let us see him cry more than we already had._

_I knew this was hurting them, but I never thought they would give up on their own daughter so easily. They know just as well as we do that Rosalie is a fighter. She wouldn't give up this easily._

"_I know this is hard, and that we've said this so many other times, but this time it's the truth! We know where she is! I swear!" I begged to them, willing them to accept what I was saying. They just looked at me sadly, as if I couldn't bear to let my sister rest in peace. Well I can't. Because she's not dead._

"_How Jasper?" he said. "How do you know where she is?" he said exasperatedly through his tears. I couldn't bear to hurt him, or mom, but I just couldn't tell him that Newton called. He'd then tell the police, and I don't trust them. Not since they gave up on Rosalie._

"_I just know. Mom, Dad you have to trust me! I know where she is! And we are going to bring her home." I said, my voice taking on an edge of tears. "We are going to bring our Ro-Ro home." My eyes filled with tears, as did everyone's in the room when I used mine and Edward's nickname for her from when we couldn't say Rosalie. My mother looked at me with such longing that I knew I had to get her home, and __soon__._

"_Jasper, I wish we could believe you, but I just can't. I've accepted that she isn't coming home. It's time you accept it too. And you as well Edward." He said, turning to look at his youngest son, who had remained silent during this entire exchange, ever since they got home. But now he spoke._

"_No." he said menacingly. "We are going to bring her home tomorrow. I hope she can forgive you for giving up on your "baby girl," because I never will." And with that final statement he left the room. I heard his bedroom door slam, and turned back to my parents. My father looked shocked, and my mother looked sadder than ever, fresh tears at her son's pain flowing down her cheeks._

"_Excuse me," Carlisle Cullen said, leaving his wife's side to stride through his office door, slamming it in his wake. I looked at mom, and knew she would head into the kitchen to bake, probably all of Rosalie's favorites. She brought her slender right hand up to cup my cheek, smiling ever so slightly._

"_Bring my baby girl home." Esme said with tears in her voice. I felt my unshed tears break free and rush down my face. She believes us. Which means she will convince my father as well. And hopefully together we can convince Edward to forgive Dad. But for now…_

"_I will mom." I said fiercely. "I promise." She smiled and kissed my cheek, padding off to the kitchen. I called after her. "Don't forget to get just plain vanilla bean ice cream. Rosie's going to want some when she gets home." I smiled when I finished, knowing that as soon as she could, she would eat all the ice cream that she could. It's her one food weakness. "And a lot of it." I added as an after-thought._

_I went to my room and undressed, sliding into bed in my nice comfy sweats, mentally preparing myself for what we might find tomorrow. It hurt worse just to think about it at all. I tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep properly, as I have been every night since Rosie disappeared. Finally my eyes shut and I slept._

_I woke up the next morning to a hand resting on the top of my head. I knew right away that it was my father, so I kept my eyes closed, wondering what he was going to say. It was very simple._

"_Bring my baby home Jasper, please just bring my baby home." He whispered, letting himself cry fully for the first time in a long while. Once his tears refused to flow anymore, he smoothed his hand over my hair once, kissed my forehead, and got up to leave. Once he reached the door, I spoke._

"_I will Dad. I promise." He turned, looking at me with a look that could break even the coldest person's heart, attempted a smile, and then shuffled out, shutting the door quietly behind him._

_I got up, got dressed, and headed out to the kitchen to find Edward sitting at the island counter finishing off a donut. I grabbed one, hit Edward in the arm lightly, and headed for the door. I heard Edward follow as I walked out into the garage, climbing into my car. He slid into the passenger seat next to me._

"_Did you remember the blankets?" I asked. He nodded. "And you have your phone in case we need to call anyone, right?" he nodded in response again. I took off down the driveway, determined to bring my sister home._

_When we reached the school, I parked as close as I could near the woods where I knew the cottage was. As soon as I took the keys out of the ignition, we both jumped out of the car, a renewed energy to our search. I left the car unlocked as Edward took off for the woods. I wasn't far behind him._

_When he reached the edge, he waited for me, since I thought I knew where it was. I led the way through quickly, keeping my eyes peeled for any signs of Rosie or that bastard. After about ten minutes of walking through the woods in the cottage's general direction, I spotted a bush crushed practically flat, some of it's branches broken completely off, as if though someone fell into it while struggling with something. This was what I was looking for._

"_Edward!" I said. He whipped his head around, and looked where my finger was pointed, his eyes becoming bright and excited. I searched frantically around, trying to decide which way the bush would lead me. By the way the branches were on the forest floor, I decided that straight was the way to go._

_We weaved through what seemed like endless trees for a long time, slowly losing hope, miniscule bits at a time. I finally gave up, and collapsed at the base of the tree. Edward stood in front of me._

"_That's it," I said. "I give up! I led us in the wrong direction! I have no idea where the cottage is anymore!" I said, frustrated out of my mind. Edward gave me a sympathetic before raising his head to look at where we were. As he scanned the surrounding area, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open._

"_Jasper," he whispered. "There it is." I jumped up, looking at where he was pointing. He was correct. There, in all its dilapidated glory was what we had been searching so hard to find. My mouth opened slightly, forming a perfect "o." I slowly walked toward it. As I realized what hopefully lay inside, I sped up my pace, until I was all but running to the cottage at the prospect of finding my sister. When I reached the door, I turned to Edward._

"_You do realized that we might hate what we find behind this door, right?" I asked, just to clarify. He nodded, looking sick. I turned back, place my hand on the knob, turned it, and opened the door. I stepped over the threshold, prepared for the worst._

_What I found wasn't the worst, but it was close enough._

_My eyes scanned the room, searching frantically for my sister. Dust covered everything, turning the entire room grey. It only made one thing stand out even more._

_There, in the farthest corner, her hands tied around a pole in a complicated knot, was a bloody, bruised, puffy, cut, broken, and naked Rosalie. My heart stopped at the sight. She looked so miserable. Tears made a constant clear path down her grime covered face. She stared back at me with horrified but relieved eyes._

"_Rosalie." I whispered, my voice becoming increasingly louder. "Rosalie, Rosalie, ROSALIE!!!!!!!" My heart was beating erratically, we found our sister! She was alive! I looked over at Edward. He had tears flowing in non-stop torrents down his face, a huge smile spread wide. I motioned to his backpack, and he grabbed it, digging through until he pulled out a soft cotton tank-top and a pair of her soft sleep shorts. I took them from him and made my way over to Rosalie. When I reached her, I crouched down and laid my hand upon her cheek, cupping her face. She attempted to flinch away, but stopped when I spoke._

"_Ro-Ro." I whispered. Her eyes widened and she attempted to speak._

"_Jazzy, Eddie." She managed to croak out, before her voice gave way to massive coughs. I untied her hands, my nimble fingers easily undoing the complicated pattern. When the ropes fell away, they revealed deep, terrible red welts around her wrists where she had been either tied or hand-cuffed multiple times. She lowered her arms and attempted to cover her bruised and bloody chest from our view. I gently took hold of her arms, sliding them through straps, lowering the torso of the shirt over my exposed sister. Then, I stretched out her legs, carefully sliding up the shorts so she was dressed._

"_Are you ready to go home sis?" I asked, watching as she nodded frantically. "We are going to take you to the hospital first." I added. She nodded in reply again. I gently slid one arm under her knees, and the other around her back, supporting her side and head against my chest. She wrapped her arms around my neck as Edward held the door open for me, kissing Rosie on the head as we walked by him._

_We wove our way back through the woods towards the school. After about 45 minutes, we came to the edge and stepped into the sunlight. Rose flinched at the harsh light, but her arms never left their place around my neck. We strode across the field separating the woods and the school, slowing as we approached the school area, knowing that we were going to attract attention. The fastest way to my car was to cut through the school, where I knew we would see people. We went anyway._

_When we walked into the school, there was only one student in the hallway, 18-year-old Jessica Stanley, who lived for gossip. When she saw us, her mouth flopped open. I used this to my advantage._

"_We found Rosalie. She's alive, as you can see. Tell everyone." She raced away into the nearest classroom, which was conveniently a certain teacher's room. Esme teaches at this school. I peered through the open door to her classroom, watching as Jessica skidded to a stop in front of her. She looked bewildered, until Jessica started talking. I could hear her._

"_Jasper and Edward." She said a bit breathlessly. Wow. She's out of shape. "They found Rosalie. She's alive." She grinned. Esme clutched her heart, using her other hand to support herself on her desk. Her face was one of shock, and when she spoke, her voice was weak._

"_W-what?" she asked disbelievingly. Her class broke into gasps and "thank gods" and whispers. Jessica spoke again._

"_They are right outside the room." Emse's head snapped up and her eyes landed on the crying Rosalie in my arms. Tears filled her eyes instantly, not yet spilling over. I saw her mouth move, and heard her faint voice._

"_Ro-Rosalie?" she questioned, slowly stepping towards the hallway. We backed up to the middle of the hallway to allow her room when she stepped out the door. She reached the doorway and leaned against the frame for support. Rosalie mustered up the loudest voice she could get._

"_Mommy!" she wailed, reaching for Esme._

"_ROSALIE!!!!!!"__ Esme shrieked. I sat Rosalie on her feet and she walked shakily towards Esme, meeting her in the middle of the hallway. When they collided, they fell to the floor in a tight embrace, both sobbing hysterically, theirs tears mixing together as they flowed fast and furiously from both sets of eyes. I backed up and slung an arm around Edwards shoulder, with him reciprocating the action, tears falling down both of our faces._

_As Emse continued to shriek and sob while embracing her daughter, teachers and students filled the hallway, wondering where the racket was coming from. When they saw Esme huddled on the floor, embracing a seriously injured and dirty, but alive, Rosalie, they all cried out in astonishment. Rosalie's best friend Emma Peterson was a new teacher at the school. When she came out of her classroom and saw Rosalie on the floor in Esme's arms, she screamed, racing down the long hallway to where we were. She looked over at us staring lovingly at them, realizing that we'd done what we swore we'd do. We'd brought Rosie home. She flung herself into our arms, hugging us both and sobbing._

_I hated to end this happy moment, but Rosalie needed to see a doctor. Pronto._

"_Mom," I said. "You need to take the rest of the day off. We need to take her to the hospital. Dad is working in the ER today. I know you want to stay with Rosie." She nodded, wiping her eyes and looking at the principal, who nodded before she could even ask the question._

"_Okay," Edward said. "I'm going to pull the car around front. I'll set up the blankets in the back for mom and Rose, and then we can take her to the hospital." I nodded, releasing him as he took my keys and basically ran to the car. I knelt down next to my crying mother and sister as the school residents trickled back to their classrooms. I wrapped and arm around each of them and pulled them close to me, letting my tears flow completely, happy to be hugging the two most important women in my life at the same time._

"_Jasper," Edward called from the door. "Time to go." I nodded, pulling Rose and Esme up with me. I scooped Rosie up into my arms, not totally trusting her to walk yet. I carried her out to the car, propping her in the back seat, Esme sliding in next to her. She laid her head on Esme's lap, letting her mother stroke her hair for the first time in a month. I stepped on the gas, speeding as fast as I could to the hospital. I got unlucky. A police car stopped me. Chief Wyatt. Great._

"_Jasper Cullen, why are you going so damn fast boy?" he said. "You're going over twice the speed limit." He shook his head. I almost never got in trouble. This time I made an exception._

"_Sir," I replied, pointing behind me. "Unlike your men, I FOUND MY SISTER! Now we are trying to get her to the hospital, and you are holding us up. She is severely injured, and has been missing for a month. She needs medical attention. __Now.__" He stared, astonished, at the broken girl asleep in the back of my car. He looked extremely guilty._

"_Go ahead," he whispered. I nodded, stepping on the gas. I made it to the hospital within the next five minutes. I stopped the car at the sidewalk in front of the doors. Jumping out, I picked Rosalie up again, striding towards the doors with Esme on my heels, leaving Edward to park. As soon as I made it through the door, everything went dead silent. I walked silently to the front desk, stopping in front of the stunned receptionist, Mrs. Stanley, Jessica's mother._

"_Rosalie Cullen," I said in a quiet, dangerous tone. "She needs attention, NOW." Everyone who heard her name gasped, breaking into whispers. Then a familiar voice came loudly though the door all the way across the large room._

"_Linda, do you have the results of the Anderson tests yet?" he asked as he strode through the door, not bothering to look up until he realized it was silent. He looked around, puzzled, until his gaze landed upon us or, more specifically, Rosalie. Everyone stared, waiting for his reaction. Then he burst._

"_Rosalie," he breathed. "Baby." He said as he strode over to us. Rosalie once again mustered up her leftover voice._

"_Daddy," she said loudly, stretching her arms out to him. He crossed the last five steps in two, reaching out his arms to hold her as close as he could. Tears poured down his cheeks as he embraced his daughter for the first time in a whole month. They both shook with wracking sobs as he took her into his arms, so that he was holding her instead of me. He turned to Mrs. Stanley._

"_What room is open?" he asked sharply. He knew that she needed to be taken care of, and now. She flipped through her book, sliding a finger down the page to the right room, stopping about three-quarters from the top of the page._

"_305." She answered as quickly as she could. He nodded, taking off for the door to right of us at a high speed, which we, now joined by Edward, followed him through. By the time we got there, he had her in the bed in a hospital gown. Esme immediately took up station at the side of her bed in a chair, holding Rosalie's hand as though she would disappear if she didn't. Dad looked at Rosalie, and decided that her had to ask the question that had been nagging my mind ever since she had disappeared._

"_Rosalie," he said quietly. "I hate to ask this, or think about it, but I have to if we are going to treat you completely." She nodded, looking scared, and he continued. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Were you raped?" I held my breath, praying to God that the answer was going to be no. But I would be wrong._

_Her eyes widened immediately, becoming unfocused as she began to tremble, pulling her arms close to her chest as she tried to protect herself from an unseen foe._

"_Stop! Please, I don't want this!" she screamed, crying. "No, no, no PLEASE! Mike, NO! Stop! Please, STOP! NNOOOO!!!!!" she began full out sobbing, flinching away from anyone who tried to touch her. My heart broke as I watched it all unfold. She was raped. Nothing could be worse._

_I reached my hand out to try to calm her trembling form, and she flinched away from my touch, scared to death. I placed my hand on her cheek, despite her terrible fear of me, and spoke softly._

"_Ro-Ro," I said. "It's me, Jazzy. And it's Edward, Mom, and Dad too. No one is going to hurt you here. You're safe." And she looked at me with recognition, her eyes refocusing._

"_Jazzy," she whispered. "I was so scared. It hurt so bad. I never thought he would do anything like that to me. Not Mike. He was always the good guy." She began to sob uncontrollably, burying her face in my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close to comfort her as she cried. In my heart, I knew that Newton must pay._

"That bastard is still wanted by the police. They haven't found him yet. But when they do, he is going to be in so much trouble." Jasper's eyes blazed hard as he finished his story with this statement. I just stared at him in shock, absorbing the story to its full potential. I felt the tears well up in my eyes and spill over immediately. Then I was full on sobbing, joining Alice. Jasper reached forward to comfort her, while Edward pulled me into his arms. I cried into his shirt, my heart shattering into a thousand pieces for Rosalie. How could some stupid mother-fucker treat her that way?! Oh I would just _love_ to kill him! I've known the girl for less than twenty-four hours, and I already love her like a sister. Fuck that bastard!

I looked over at Alice, only to see that her small frame was curled up into a tiny ball in his lap, tears running unceremoniously down her face, her eyes red, her nose running. Jasper smoothed her hair and whispered to her softly, gently rocking her back and forth to try to comfort her. Her sobs quieted a bit as she let Jasper hold her. I turned back around as my crying reached its full potential – huge, gut-wrenching sobs – and buried my face in Edward's chest, silently thanking him for helping me. I felt his lips touch my hair in a soothing gesture, his right hand rubbing soft circles on my back while his left arm was like an iron ring around my waist, holding me tightly to him.


	6. Comfort, Jokes, and Idiots

Chapter 6: Comfort, Jokes, and _Idiots!_

"Shh Bella," he cooed in my ear softly. "It's alright. Rosie's safe, and no one will ever touch her – or you and Alice for that matter – as long as we're here." His right hand abandoned its circles and tangled itself in my long, thick brown hair, pulling my face tightly to his chest. I made a mental note to thank him later, but for now I couldn't. I continued to cry into his chest as my sobs slowly turned to cries, and my cries turned into only a few tears.

When it seemed as though my eyes would never be able to cry again, I took a deep breath to steady myself. I slowly lifted my head up from his chest and saw that I was curled up into a little ball in his lap, my arms wrapped around his waist with a viper-like grip. I ducked my head, looking down at my comforter as I felt a blush heat my cheeks. I slowly unwrapped my arms and shifted off of his lap, meaning to go back to my previous seat by my headboard. He had other ideas. He kept one arm wrapped protectively around my waist, keeping me seated to his right, the left side of my body molded with his right. I leaned my head against his shoulder and waited as Alice finally calmed down. She remained curled in Jaspers lap, a small smile playing her face. I reached across the bed and placed my hand on her forehead. Her fever was gone. It seems as though her sickness disappeared. I smiled, noticing Jaspers face as well.

Who knew a small grin could do so much? Even though his mouth was barely smiling, that little bit gave his face a wondrous glow. He just looked so _happy._ Maybe he'll be finding himself a new girlfriend by the name of Alice. She seems to make him happy.

"Jasper," Alice said in a small voice. "How has Rosalie been handling it?" At that question, his face fell, the smile only a memory. He hugged Alice tighter, and sighed.

"She _hasn't_ handled it." He said grimly. "She refuses to talk about it, easily scares around guys, and I don't know how to help her. She puts on a mask of being fine, but I know she falling apart inside. She just doesn't want anyone to see it. You see," he said, shifting Alice into a more comfortable position. "Rosalie was always the fighter. No one picked on her, and no one picked on us if they kenw what was good for them. Whenever she was actually scared, she never let anyone see it. Like those photos that bastard left. They scared her shitless, but she didn't let anyone know it because she didn't want to seem weak." I looked at Edward, and he nodded, his face equally grim. He had remained silent throughout Jaspers' explanation of Rosalie's story, except to comfort me. Now he spoke again.

"Emmett is the first guy besides me, Jasper, and our father that Rosalie has let get that close to her. She stops all contact if anyone get too close. I was amazed when she stopped screaming when Emmett touched her, _and_ that she stayed in his arms to let him comfort her, even after she stopped crying." He started to smile as he looked up at Jasper. "I think that Emmett is going to be the one to help us get our sister back." His grin stretched into a smile, while Jaspers grim face twitched, the corners of his mouth turning up and stretching until he wore a full blown smile as well.

"You know what Edward," he started. "I think you're right." They exchanged high fives, and Alice and I couldn't help but laugh. Alice shifted herself until she was on Jaspers left, but she kept herself curled into a ball against his side, his arm still wrapped contentedly around her. The four of us sat there on my bed in silence for a few minutes, and then we silently decided to return downstairs. When we reached the living room, I crosses over to the hallway and peeked in on Emmett and Rosalie. It seems as though they woke up at one point, because instead of sleeping against the wall, Emmett was leaning up against the headboard on the bed with Rosalie in between his legs, leaning back against his chest, with his arms wrapped around her waist from behind. They both had a contented smile on their faces while they slept, so I intended to close the door and walk away. I almost had the door closed when I felt someone's breath near my ear, whispering.

"Hi Bella," Edward said. I jumped at the sound of his voice, almost falling over until his arms created a snare around my waist and prevented me from taking us both down. I felt my face heating up to a bright red as Edward straightened me up so I was standing, and facing him. He laughed.

"Bella, what am I going to do with you?" he chuckled. "Every time I turn around, I'm catching you again!" he continued to laugh as I let out a stressed giggle. But when my mind wrapped around what he said, it took it as an insult. My smile quickly vanished.

"Well," I said, pulling myself away from his warm, strong, muscular arms. "If you are so sick of catching me all the time, maybe you should just let me fall!" I huffed, straightening my shirt. I reached out and closed the door all the way before pushing my way passed Edward and walking haughtily to the living room.

I looked around for a seat, and saw Jasper stretched across one half of the couch, and Alice taking up half of the loveseat. I walked – more like stormed – over to the loveseat and joined Alice, who looked at my face quizzically. I just shook my head slightly, not watching as Edward walked into the room and claimed the recliner chair, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly down, probably as his brain was trying to discover what he had done wrong.

Idiot.

"So Jasper," I said, attempting to change the subject. "I know this topic isn't much happier, but what are you going to do about this Maria?" I didn't want to have to mention it, but we needed a topic change, and quickly. I watched as his face set into frown before he spoke, sighing wistfully.

"I don't know." He groaned. "I walked in on her and one of what I thought was my best friends having sex! How do you forgive someone for that?" his face showed pain and betrayal. "I mean, come on! We were like the three musketeers! Why the fuck would they do that to me?! HE WAS MY FUCKING BEST FRIEND!!!!!" he was full on shouting now, his face red, veins popping in his neck, fists clenched at his sides. He looked around a bit wildly before striding over and punching the wall, making the empty picture frames fall off and the CD's on top of the TV rattle. I slightly cowered in the seat, before I took a good look at his face, where his forehead was now resting against the wall.

I saw tears running down his red colored cheeks. His shoulders started slightly shaking as his tears ran faster, small whimpers escaping his throat as he tried to suppress sobs he has held back for a long time. I raised myself from the couch, crossing the room to Jasper in a heartbeat. I laid my hand on his right shoulder and he turned his face slightly. When he saw it was me, he turned and moved, dropping his sobbing frame into my arms. I let us slowly drop to the couch, me curling up in his lap and cradling his head to my chest. His body was trembling and shaking as his sobs grew louder, finally letting them out of his body. His sobs turned to howls of misery, the pain of what happened making itself known as it was poured out of his system.

I smoothed his hair and started to sing a soft lullaby, signaling to Alice and Edward with my eyes that they should leave the room. They nodded, and then left to find Emmett and Rosalie. I focused my full attention back to Jasper.

"Shhh, Jasper, it's okay." I cooed. "I'm here. Just let it out. I'm a walking talking pillow-tissue. Take all the time you need." I said, cracking a smile. Jasper gave me a watery chuckle which quickly returned to tears. As I rocked back and forth, humming, he slowly calmed down, until his tears stopped and he was in control. He sat himself up and I slid to his side, wrapping my arms around his waist.

"Thanks Bells," he said with small smile. "I needed that. I just, I don't know how to handle this. We were always so close, and then they go and do this behind my back. I just couldn't handle it anymore." he finished sadly.

"It's okay Jasper," I said. "I understand." I smiled up at him and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek, like a little kid. He made a disgusted face and wiped his hand across his cheek frantically.

"Ewwwww!!" he squealed. "Bella gave me girlie cooties!" I laughed as his face broke into a huge shit eating grin. We whipped around laughing as we heard bodies fall. Emmett, Rosalie, Edward and Alice fell through the doorway laughing, landing on the floor in a pile. Of course, Emmett was on bottom.

I grinned evilly.

"DOG PILE ON EMMETT!" I yelled. Jasper and I launched ourselves on top of the pile, giggling and squealing like little girls. I quickly leapt up from the pile and ran to the other side of the couch, snatching up a camera and taking a picture.

"BELLA!" Alice shrieked. "I look like shit, and you just took a fucking PICTURE?!" her words turned to unrecognizable shrieks, and my laughter rang through the house. It was a good way to end the drama filled afternoon, and a good way to start the evening.

******Okay okay so i know it's fluff, but i haven't updated in months, so i decided to go ahead and update. Please review! it's only my first fanfiction!!!!!!**

**Aurora 3**


End file.
